About the Play:

The Audience is a full-length drama by Peter Morgan. For 65 years, Elizabeth II has met her Prime Minister every week in an Audience at Buckingham Palace. Both parties agree never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses. What is discussed? What secrets are shared? Does her Majesty have her favourites? One head of state. Endless heads of government. The Audience asks where the real power lies.

The Audience centers on weekly meetings (or "audiences") between Queen Elizabeth II and her various prime ministers, a meeting like no other in British public life. The discussions are utterly secret. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said. Not even to the royal and ministerial spouses. The Audience breaks this contract of silence and takes theatregoers behind the walls of Buckingham Palace and into the private chambers of Queen Elizabeth II. Peter Morgan imagines a series of pivotal meetings with each of her Prime Ministers, from when she was a young mother to now as a Great Grandmother. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while she remains constant, waiting to welcome her next prime minister. From the old warrior Winston Churchill, to the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher, through the charm offensive of Tony Blair right up to meetings with David Cameron, each Prime Minister has used these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional – sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive. In turn, the Queen can't help but reveal her own self as she advises her Prime Ministers on all matters both public and personal, consoles and, on occasion, teases. Through these private audiences, we see glimpses of the woman behind the crown and witness the moments that shaped the modern monarchy.

The Audience premiered in 2013 at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End of London. Following that record-breaking run, it was revived in 2015 at the Apollo Theatre in London in tandem with the Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre starring Helen Mirren, who originated the role in the West End. The play is regularly performed in regional, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 4 female, 9 male (doubling)

What people say:

"This is something rarer: funny and truthful, goodhearted, spiky, full of surprises. I loved every minute... there are stunning political moments... It's all fiction, of course, and often painfully funny, yet is expresses large and serious truths." — The Times (UK)

"What a great if faintly guilty pleasure this play proves…In this marvellous piece, [Morgan] penetrates at least some of [the Queen's] mystery, with compassion, grace, affection and humour." — The Daily Telegraph (UK)

"The surprise element in Peter Morgan's highly entertaining play…is its imaginative range, lack of sentimentality and incisive intelligence." — WhatsOnStage.com

"Hugely enjoyable and cumulatively very affecting." — The Independent (UK)

About the Playwright:

Peter Morgan is an English screenwriter and playwright. He has written extensively for movies and television, but is probably best known for his plays Frost/Nixon and The Queen which established his reputation for exploring the inner nature of power – its acquisition, machinations, and loss. His television work includes the critically acclaimed TV series The Crown, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, The Jury, The Special Relationship, Longford, Colditz, Henry VIII and The Deal; and for film, Rush, 360, Hereafter, State of Play, The Damned United, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Last King of Scotland and the Oscar award winning The Queen.