Queen Milli Of Galt

By: Garry Kirkham

Director: Eric Coates

Blyth Festival Of Canada(www.blythfestival.ca)

Blyth Theatre

Runs: July 4^th to August 11^th

4 ½ Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

What woman wouldn’t want a Prince, charming or otherwise, to sweep her off her feet? Well Canadian born Millicent Milroy for one. Milli lives in Galt, now known as Cambridge, Ontario, Canada and she is mourning the loss of a soldier she fell in love with. The year is 1919 and Prince Edward VIII is doing yet another royal tour, this time of Canada, where a spoiled young man becomes enraptured by a young feisty uncensored and unfazed by fame woman named Milli. The two meet in her garden as she is avoiding the royal welcome, and Edward has somehow managed to escape his own royal welcome. So sets the stage for a tumultuous and romantic story that is quite possibly fact or fiction. In her 80s, Milli has her tombstone engraved as that of being the once wife of Edward VIII. Do we believe this? Do we dig down into the past and discover its truth? Do we care whether it is true or not? I don’t know, ask King Arthur. What Queen Milli of Galt proposes is a fairytale possibly based in fact.

Queen Milli Of Galt is a production that illuminates the lives of a female school teacher and a man preparing to be king and where the two of them meet. Ironically enough Milli and Edward are surprisingly similar, with restraints and pressures both must endure. A romantic fable, Queen Milli Of Galt could be considered a good evening enjoyment by anyone’s standards. Kirkham’s play was originally produced in 2005, winning awards and is now being performed at Canada’s hub of new emerging Canadian talent, The Blyth Festival Of Canada. Although Kirkham is British, the plays content, firmly rooted in Canada seems to be an instant Canadian hit. Avoiding one of those nasty wars with Britain, Canadians have always thought of themselves as still ardent royalists, so the idea that a Canadian rose could capture the British Prince’s eye before Wallace Simpson makes for interesting storytelling in this country.

At times the play took on a large amount of creative license and some known facts were found inaccurate, but overall I felt a certain amount of creative licence could be afforded for Queen Milli Of Galt as a potential myth is allowed that grey area; after all, no one ever thought The King And I was a factual portrayal of Anna and the King of Siam.

Feeding into the fairytale like story of Milli and Edward, the sets were vibrant and colourful, paired with music that gave the atmosphere that you might have entered the artwork of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. The animated feel to the stage with blooming colourful flowers and blazing sunsets seemed to evoke the sense that the audience was watching a dream as opposed to a factual account which ended up making the romance of the story that much more delightful.

Kirkham’s script was intelligent and full of romance and comedy -- a sometimes hard balance to generate, but successfully accomplished in Queen Milli Of Galt. Artistic Director of the Blyth Festival, Eric Coates, put his directing hand to work and the play was tightly and professionally put together, with a strong vision focused on by all cast members.

Performances were really outstanding as Ingrid Haas (Milli) and Darren Keay (Edward) had fantastic chemistry together and played off each others lines as if they had been a cheeky-biting couple for years. Separately their performances were very strong as they both commanded the stage with equal strength, neither one upstaged the other. Supporting cast were a great asset, Robert B Kennedy as Edward’s butler was delightful and Mona, Milli’s friend, played by Rebecca Auerbach put in a small but strong performance. The only draw back was Keay’s British accent, which is not great but can be a hard accent to do as everyone thinks they can do it and always seem to butcher it. At least Keay didn’t over-animate the accent, and so it was easier to listen to for the whole performance and his acted far outshone a detail as small as an accent.

Queen Milli Of Galt was a great production to see at this year’s Blyth Festival Of Canada as there were tender moments, thoughtful moments, a good dose of humour, and a well-organized and executed production.