By Royal Appointment by Daisy Goodwin. Richmond Theatre, Little Green, Richmond TW9 until 26 July 2025. Then on tour, 4☆☆☆☆. William Russell.

Photo Credit: Nobby Clark.

By Royal Appointment by Daisy Goodwin. Richmond Theatre, Little Green, Richmond TW9 until 26 July 2025. Then on tour,

4☆☆☆☆. William Russell.

“Anne Reid shines in a gossamer thin pleasant play.”

Gossamer thin Daisy Goodwin's play is about the relationship between Queen Elizabeth 11 the woman who dressed her and the men who provided her hats and clothes. It works well as we proceed down the years in a series of short scenes stating with the Dresser's return from the Queen's funeral to collect her belongings finding that the lock on the royal jewels safe, which she was in charge of,  has already been changed. An ambitious spikey northerner she had acquired this among her duties during the years she served the Queen but the Windsors are a ruthless lot – remember Crawfie - and when one monarch dies the next one has “their people” in place instantly. The Dresser's day is over. The Queen is played with charm and elegance by Anne Reid while Caroline Quentin is nicely acerbic as the Dresser who has made herself the first person in the Queen's life. James Dreyfus as the royal miliner and James Wilby as the royal dress designer, both rampantly gay, provide some of the laughter and some of the tears along the way in impeccable style. The one jarring note, and it is not the  fault of Grainne Dromgoole who plays her, is caused by the young woman who is to be the curator of a collection of the Queen's dresses which the new King has decided will be held. She is the narrator of events during that long reign and while the audience reacts with delight at rediscovering things they had forgotten over the decades which today have added resonance because of what happened afterwards it is an artificial way of telling the story. Dominic Dromgoole has directed the play with style, there is a pleasing set by Jonathan Fensome and the recreated hats and dresses are a joy to see . Whether the real people were anything like the characters in the play is anybody's guess – none are named.This is ad fashioned charming evening aimed at theatregoers who just want a nice night out watching people they know from television which they duly get. The evening  belongs to Anne Reid who conjures up Elizabeth Windsor perfectly while not looking or sounding much like her.

Cast

Anne Reid – The Queen

Caroline Quentin – The Dresser

James Dreyfus – The Milliner

James Wilby – The Designer

Grainne Dromgoole – The Curator

Fiona Tong – Footman

Jeremy Drakes – Footman

Creatives

Director – Dominic Dromgoole

Designer – Jonathan Fensom

Lighting – Oliver Fenwick

Sound – Ella Wahkstrom

Projection – Nina Dunn