DIANA The Untold and Untrue Story at the King's Head Theatre review
After a sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run in 2023 and winning the OffFest Award for Best Play, Diana - The Untold and Untrue Story has arrived in London for a three-week run at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. Let me start by saying it is the best and silliest kind of fun and the most I’ve laughed in such a short space of time. Book it!
Diana the Untrue and Untold Story. Photo by Dave Bird.
Linus Karp of Awkward Productions has excelled himself in writing, directing, producing and taking on the role of Diana showcasing his abundance of talent. His fiancé is the puppeteer and provides the voice over The play uniquely combines drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry and even an appearance from Captain Sir Tom Moore for an unforgettable and untrue experience. A sheer joy to watch from beginning to end and will grace you with a consistent flow of laugh out loud moments.
Linus is the only “live performer” and is faultless in his role as Diana. Charles is present as a cardboard cutout; Camilla a puppet, and the Queen appears via prerecorded video, in an imposing and larger than life manner. The other live performances are the audience members who were selected on arrival to the show filling in the rolls of Diana’s father and mother, William and Harry’s Nannies, a gay fan, a landmine, a corgi and other amusing parts. Linus’ real-life partner, Joseph Martin is co-director, and puppeteer of Camilla.
There are moments when trying to anticipate what is to come next, one worries it may cross a line, offending those that are too admiring, and precious of the royal family but the play manages to keep everyone on side, even through the farcical and vigorous sex between puppet Camilla and cardboard Charles, resulting in Charles falling to pieces (literally and accidentally) and a “spare” needs to be fetched (and I don’t mean Harry….because that would just be weird). The portrayals of the Royal family are simply too absurd and ridiculous to offend.
Diana the Untrue and Untold Story. Photo by Dave Bird.
We are taken on Diana’s journey: from her birth and her courtship with Charles, their marriage, and popping out her “nepo” babies (William and Harry) in quick succession, live on stage. Then handing them to an audience member with “Raise him well” She confronts Camcam (Camilla), a wild puppet, portrayed one dimensionally as the evil Other Woman with legs frequently akimbo and you’ll find yourself respectfully turning away to preserve her modesty. She has a demonic, hard to understand voice, but really, would Diana want to hear want she has to say anyway?
Much fun is had with Charles’ line, “Whatever “in love’” means”, from their televised engagement interview. It is then rolled out throughout the play at opportune moments. For example Charles during their marriage vows - “I do, whatever I do means.”
Diana is humorously saint-like from birth and is glorified in a way that will bring great satisfaction to her fans. The remover of all landmines and just too good for this world. We of course all remember her Revenge Dress. I’ll never think of a revenge dress in the same way ever again, as Diana’s contains a knife, a gun and a 70’s electric meat cleaver, which is so chaotically brilliant.
In this play she is set free, “like a candle in the wind”. She lives in a way we, and she, would like to be remembered and we get a glimmer into who she would have become had it not been for the unfortunate and fatal drive through a Paris tunnel.
Diana the Untrue and Untold Story. Photo by Dave Bird.
In this untrue story The Queen unsuccessfully tries to kill off the annoyingly popular Diana, yet she is spared (big cheers) and proceeds to move on doing great and wonderful things with her life. She is bestowed with honours and awards for her abundant talents and good deeds. Oscar nominated for playing her role as Kirsten Stewart in the movie Stewart, a Nobel peace prize nomination....and the list goes on. The untrue story keeps her in the headlines and lets her live a brave, flamboyant and as full a life as her fans would have wished for her.
This expertly crafted tongue in cheek, roller coaster tale is a royally hilarious must see.
In FLO London style we can confidently recommend pairing the show with a casual dinner at the nearby Humble Grape wine bar, a mere three-minute walk from the theatre. We managed to book our early seating through @firsttableuk giving us a 50% discount on all food. Go forth and book yourself a perfect London night out.
Date: 17 April – 5 May 2024. Running time: 70 minutes (no interval). Location: King’s Head Theatre, Islington,116, Upper Street, N1 1QN. Price: £10 - £28. Book now.
Words by Natascha Milsom
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