A shy man with a debilitating stammer, Bertie is more than happy to leave the top job in the family business to his older brother David.
However, the year is 1936, ‘the firm’ is the British royal family, and his brother, the new King Edward VIII, shows a shocking disregard for tradition and is under increasing political pressure. Eventually he abdicates the throne to be with the woman he loves. In politically grim times, the reluctant Bertie, next in line to the throne, is forced to step into the breach.
With the help of an unconventional speech therapist and the staunch support of his wife, he attempts to overcome his speech impediment and become the king the country needs. As world politics turn even darker, will Bertie be able to deliver the speech of a lifetime?
The Hamburg Players, the city's oldest English-language theatre group, present the stage adaption of the Oscar-winning movie, penned by the screenwriter David Seidler himself, in November at Theater an der Marschnerstraße.