The King in Yellow**

21^st August 2019

The Lion and Unicorn Theatre
Rating: 5 Stars

With the end of the celebrated Edinburgh Fringe nigh, the eyes of the theatre going public now have to frantically search for other forms of amusement as the brief, but nevertheless hot British Summer comes to an end. For those left in London, the Camden Fringe offers a possible thirst quencher to the upcoming dramatic drought. Like its Scottish Brother, the Camden Fringe promises the good, the bad and the ugly in its eclectic program. The question is, which one of these does ‘The King in Yellow’ fall under? To answer this question one must first dive into the depths of this unnerving and oddly frantic play.

As a self-confessed Gothic Horror enthusiast, I have to confess that I had never heard of ‘The King in Yellow’ (a piece which H.P. Lovecraft defined as groundbreaking), before attending this performance. Written by American author Robert W. Chambers in 1895, ‘The King in Yellow’ encompasses ten stories set in a dystopian 1920’s America. These stories are all linked by the existence of a forbidden play, called ‘The King in Yellow’, which once read induces despair or madness in its hapless victims. This play acts as a catalyst for the characters within the novel, being passed between them, and causing them to act out. To put it bluntly ‘The King in Yellow’ is a story about a killer play.

As you can probably gather, this is not a story that you can just jump in and out of with one eye on your phone (although I would have been grateful if someone could have told that to the bloke sat in front of me!). It is fair to say that bringing ‘The King in Yellow’ to the stage would be a challenge for even the most seasoned of directors. As a result first time theatre directors Joesphine Czarnecki and Darwin Garrett’s take on this soul gripping novel is nothing short of remarkable. Czarnecki and Garret masterfully reduce Chambers ten short stories to a single one-hour narrative. Set in the same dystopian world of suicide chambers, political unrest and macabre art as the original text, ‘The King in Yellow’ is one of those plays that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. From the centre of this maelstrom of madness and intrigue a young man named Castagine (played by Owen Clark) rises as the central figure. Over the course of the next hour we gradually build up a picture of this man; learning that he has spent time in an asylum, has read the forbidden play and now believes that he will be the new king of existence (the king in yellow). As the hour ticks away we see Castagines web of madness extend out, ensnaring everyone in reach. A sculptor named Boris and his wife, a painter named Jack and his model Tessie, an infatuated man called Alec, even his own Cousin Lewis, are all corrupted by Castagines madness.

Czarnecki and Garretts production walks a taut tight rope, balancing between the world of Kantors theatre of memory and the underworld of Artauds Theatre of cruelty. There is something eerily compelling about the plays juxtaposition of beauty and death, of art and madness. We open on a dark room filled as if it were the cluttered inside of a frantic artists brain. A soundtrack of mixed ragtime and swing music interspersed with clangs, books slamming, hammers falling and clock chimes, creates an almost nightmarish backdrop to proceedings, whilst a blank masked chorus keeps the performance forever turning to its mind warping conclusion (SPOILERS STILL TO COME). Throughout the play there are continued references to the marble statues that stand outside the suicide chambers in Washington Square, on a basic level the plays modern Greek Chorus act as a further physical embodiment of this closeness between art and death. On another level there are hints of communism and dictatorship in the use of this faceless group of people, all following the same movements and the same religious calling of the king in yellow.

However, with any tight rope there is a real danger of falling to your demise. Needless to say ‘The King Yellow’ is dense with heavy undertones, so much so that everyone could take their own meaning from the text. This if poorly handled could cause the play to be condemned as pretentious. Czarnecki and Garrett neatly sidestep this potential danger by casting some of the most naturally talented performers I have ever had the pleasure of watching. I have been lucky in the past six months in the fact that all of the shows that I have reviewed have had fairly strong casts, however ‘The King in Yellow’ is the one show I have reviewed where all of the cast stand on the same level of brilliance.


Owen Clark is pure perfection in the lead role of Castagine. Instead of sinking into the quagmire of a stereotypical villain, or the hopelessly overblown cliché of a madman, Clark goes for a more sophisticated layered approach. At the opening he appears to act more as a quietly controlled storyteller, describing the dystopian world that the audience are about to enter, before descending into an unstable and frightened young man who seems to live in his cousins (played by Ashton Spear) shadow, only to later frantically re-emerge as a coldly calculating puppet master who sews the seeds of his comrades fates. There is definitely a hint of Doctor Faustus in Clarks portrayal, a feature which is nicely complimented by Ashton Spear’s take on the character of Boris. Providing us with our first side story in the narrative, Spear’s plays a captivating restless sculptor who has just discovered a chemical which transforms organic matter into marble. Continuing with the gothic theme, Spears take on the character fits nicely into the archetype of young scientist in a similar vein as the likes of Doctor Jekyll and Victor Frankenstein. His wide eyed, almost feverish excitement is a clear warning about the dangers of straying too far onto the frozen lake of scientific discovery. As Spears allows his characters passions to consume him, we are also given a startling powerful message about arts connection beauty and life. Like changing a flower to marble, if we mimic life in art do we take away all that made it live in the process.

Completing the male cast is Robbie Heath, whose embodiment of the young painter Jack has more than a hint of Dorian Grays Basil Hallward about it. Once again his story carefully treads the line between beauty and death, revolving mainly around his developing feelings for his pretty model Tessie (played by Zuzana Spacirova) and a strange nightmare that seems to haunt the young couple. This story unquestionably adds a level of sweetness to the otherwise manic darkness of the narrative. Heath and Spacirova show an incredible sense of truth in their performances, there is nothing forced or overplayed in their relationship. As an audience we believe that these two have a long and developed relationship, which considering we only really see them together in a couple of scenes is a testament to both of these performers’ skills. We end up completely invested in their relationship, and therefore this makes the constant presence of death and their inevitable demise at the hands of The King in Yellow all the more tragic. A truly palatable bittersweet moment.

However one thing which always impresses me as an audience member is an actors ability to take on multiple roles within a short production. Ashton Spears skills in this area are noteworthy, as he swaps between the frantic Boris and the more reserved Louis, but the true multi-rolling geniuses of the play are Charlene Sagral and Nina Atesh. Sagral shows remarkable versatility as she appears as the lovesick and slightly nervous Alec, before shedding this guise to take on the role of the politely reserved Constance (love interest of Lewis). Her portrayal of Alec particularly stands out, encompassing a truly gripping emotional range. Acting as a friend to Boris, and secret lover to his wife, this young man is a tightly coiled spring of conflicting morality, which at the plays climax gives way to a declaration of truthful love. Sagral is unquestionably an emotionally masterful actor, and one which I hope we soon see treading the boards again.

With this said, the stand-out performance of the piece comes from Nina Atesh. I had the privilege of reviewing Atesh in a separate production last year, and quickly became a fan of her as a comedy actress. However, it is clear that Atesh’s skills are not merely restricted to the realms of comedy. Throughout ‘The King in Yellow’ Atesh appeared in three completely different roles and gave each one the necessary truth and commitment. From the cocksure paperboy Thomas to the corrupted and deformed Mister Wilde (who it is hinted may have caused the events of the play), Atesh not only captivates but is one of the main driving forces behind the performances success. Her greatest victory comes in the role of Genève, the wife of Boris, who begins the story as dismissive of her husband’s achievements but slowly unravels to become obsessed with the idea of creating beauty through death leading to her own demise. Such is Atash’s skills that we are left with the question, did ‘The King in Yellow’ cause her downfall or was it the guilt from the affair with Alec? Atesh is truly an acting powerhouse, changing between characters seemingly effortlessly. A mere turn of the head or drop in vocal tone is enough. Her performance is a masterclass in multi-rolling and a testament to truth in performance. To put it simply Nina Atesh is the Catherine Tate or Julie Walters for the new generation.

‘The King in Yellow’ is a play that defies convention. Czarnecki and Garrett don’t just tear up the rule book, they set it on fire. It’s a rare thing for me to walk out of a show and be stunned into complete silence. Don’t get me wrong there are some people who won’t get ‘The King in Yellow’, there are some who may actually hate it, but no one can deny that it has an effect on everyone who sees it. In a world where a lot of theatre is forgettable, ‘The King in Yellow’ stands out as a bright light in the darkness of the mundane. It’s scary how much the play draws you in. During the final scenes Castagine makes references to his ‘people’, whilst looking directly at the audience. There’s an eerily element of truth behind this statement. We feel as if by viewing this show we have become disciples of the ‘The King in Yellow'. As the play ends on the final image of Castagine, wrapped in a white cloak tied like a straight jacket, we even begin to question whether we have just been drawn into the confines of a madman’s head. ‘The King in Yellow’ is a play which deserves an audience. Love it or hate, you will come out having experienced something unique. For that Czarnecki and Garretts production gets my vote for Best Performance of the Year.