![]() ![]() But his descent into illness starts with stumbling over words. In fact, he rules his court with fairly rigid discipline. ![]() When we first meet King George in the play he is sane enough. Today, doctors suggest that he may have been suffering from an inherited blood disorder called porphyria. ![]() The symptoms involved abdominal pain, seizures and mental disturbance, and the King's urine apparently turned blue. The symptoms baffled doctors of the time, and Alan Bennett pulls no punches when making these supposedly intelligent men look foolish and impotent. The play focuses on the condition which affected King George (affectionately known as 'Farmer George' due to his passionate interest in agriculture) in the later part of his life. George III reigned as King of England for 60 years from 1760 to 1820. Mr Bennett's play was turned into a film in 1994, with the name changed to 'The Madness of King George', and directed by the National Theatre's artistic director, Nicholas Hytner. Twenty years later, this revival directed by Christopher Luscombe and emanating from the Theatre Royal, Bath back in August last year, is a welcome return. It was back in 1991 that this play by the immensely popular playwright Alan Bennett first shone its light on the ailment that made King George III seem completely mad. ![]()
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