The Audience

— The filmed performance of “The Audience” (National Theatre Live), recorded in London's West End in 2013 and starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, is a fascinating look at the Queen, told through her weekly private audiences with the twelve Prime Ministers who’ve served during her reign. The result is a view of the “most invisible visible public woman in the world” and of the events that shaped Great Britain from Churchill to Cameron. Mirren is amazing and the two and a half hours flew by. If you get a chance, it’s well worth seeing. The staging and costumes are also of interest since the play is not chronological so Mirren's age at any scene can be anywhere between 30 and 90, while all costume changes occur on stage but not as integral action. I particular like the concept of “the unlived lives within us all“. It’s hard not to a like a play that acknowledges the Queen is in some ways, a "tribal leader in an eccentric costume" or "a postage stamp with a pulse."

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[2013. 150 min. Written by Peter Morgan. Directed by Stepehn Daldry. Starring Hellen Mirren, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, and Andy Harres.]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2289929/The-Audience-review-Helen-Mirren-magnificent-The-Queen-Margaret-Thatcher-gets-rough-ride.html