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| Matthew Backer (Elizabeth) - Briallen Clarke (Marion) in "The Queen's Nanny" |
Written by Melanie Tait – Directed by Priscilla Jackman
Set Design by Michael Hankin – Costumes designed by
Genevieve Graham
Lighting Design by Morgan Moroney – Composer & Sound Design
by James Peter Brown
Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse 19th to 21st
June 2025.
Opening night performance on 19th June reviewed
by BILL STEPHENS.
In 1932, Marion Crawford became a governess for the Duke and
Duchess of York. Seventeen years later, she wrote a book about her experiences.
Meanwhile, the Yorks had become the King and Queen of the British Commonwealth,
and her charges, Elizabeth and Margaret, had become Royal Princesses.
Crawford had become a trusted servant of the family,
referred to by them as Crawfie. She lived in a grace-and-favour house as a term
of her employment. Her service continued until Princess Elizabeth's marriage in
1947, which occurred two months after Crawford's own wedding that she had
postponed for 16 years to serve the family.
Though The Young
Princesses revealed a loving view of the Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth felt
it breached privacy and trust. She dismissed Crawfie and revoked her
privileges, including her house.
These events are explored with impressive economy by playwright,
Melanie Tait who gives equal weight to both
sides of the story, inserting an Australian character to provide salient historical
facts to ensure the clarity of the storytelling.
Elsewhere the necessary information is presented in short
concise episodes by Briallen Clarke as Marion Crawford, Sharon Millerchip as
Queen Elizabeth and Matthew Backer as everyone else.
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| Sharon Millerchip (Elizabeth) - Matthew Backer (J) - Briallen Clarke (Crawford) in "The Queen's Nanny" |
It might have been tempting to present this play as a satire about class and entitlement, particularly with the decision to cast Matthew Backer as Princess Elizabeth throughout the entire period of Crawfie’s employment.
Instead, director Priscilla Jackman avoided that path. Choosing
an elegant setting by Michael Hankin which included a model train overhead, and
scale models of the contrasting houses in which Crawfie and the Yorks lived, matched
with appropriately stylish costumes by Genevieve Graham, Jackman shaped her production
as an engaging, thoughtful examination of the right to tell one’s own story, with
which to frame the acting skills of her accomplished cast.
As well as portraying the narrator, a journalist, Crawfie’s fiancé
George and various other male characters required for the story, Matthew Backer
fascinates with his portrayal of the young princess maturing into womanhood and
a future as queen. Avoiding camp, he employs restraint and minimal props to move
and captivate his audience with the sincerity of his characterisation.
Briallen Clarke's Crawfie is a dedicated character, sharp
and efficient, prepared to adapt her accent and postpone her wedding for her job
but unable to pass up a substantial payment to share work-related information.
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| Sharon Millerchip (Elizabeth) in "The Queen's Nanny" |
The scene in which the Queen berates Crawfie for her
perceived disloyalty, dismissing her and stripping her of her entitlements, in
front of the princess, is superbly rendered by all three actors, providing the
play with both a thrilling climax, and a poignant ending, by revealing that
this was the last interaction in which any of these characters ever spoke to
each other again.
With The Queen’s Nanny Melanie Tait has created a
fascinating play that throws light on an almost forgotten moment in history
which reveals that although the Queen Mother’s treatment of Marion Crawford may
have seemed harsh at the time, history has proven that she was right to have
misgivings about Crawford’s actions. They opened a floodgate of telltale
publications by trusted employees and even members of the Royal Family, which question,
and even threaten, the very existence of British Royalty.
Images by Melanie Desa
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
