King Charles is the royal patron of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), which I did not know. Apparently, it’s a patronage he just assumed last month – along with 300 other patronages – and he took over the RADA patronage from his late mother. RADA is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, so their royal patron stopped by to check out some of their work. This was King Charles and Queen Camilla’s first public event (outside of the palace) since the Windsors abruptly announced that they were canceling most of their public events when Rishi Sunak called the election. My guess is that Charles and his courtiers believed (correctly) that a trip to RADA was not in danger of being politicized or actually becoming a political act. And yet, what the visit lacked in politics, it made up for in familial drama.

The King and Queen have watched students perform a play about family betrayal at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. They spoke to current students about one of the productions before watching an extract from House of Ife performed by third-year acting students in the Gielgud Theatre.

The play, by Beru Tessema, is described on the Rada website as a production about a family “forced to confront the traumas they have long tried to bury”. The production, which their majesties personally chose to watch out of three plays currently running, represents the “modern Rada”, according to David Harewood, the academy’s president.

The former Rada student said the King “really seemed to enjoy” the play, adding: “I saw him giggle at one point. They were given the choice of three plays and they chose that play, and I think he wants to see what modern Rada is about, so I think that gave him what he needed. Forty per cent of our student intake now are from black or mixed race backgrounds, and that’s again wonderful to see that we’re embracing that and they chose that play.”

“He wants to see something modern, and again to see young black students at Rada being their authentic selves, when I was here it was all RP [received pronunciation] and that was the only way we could talk. So it’s nice to see modern students embracing that authenticity. In the way that he is reframing the monarchy, we’re doing the very same here with Rada – taking what was a very established legacy and trying to project that into the future, giving our modern students a taste of a much more modern industry.”

[From The Telegraph]

I love how David Harewood is insisting that the king is the one who chose the play – House of Ife is apparently about the sudden death of the eldest son and there’s lots of family drama and family trauma. A bit on the nose. Hey, he could have asked for Richard III. Or Macbeth.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.