★ ★ ★ /4 Toronto Star – Karen Fricker
“…a welcome vehicle for McCamus, returning to the Shaw ensemble after a number of years at Stratford for this juicy part and a stellar supporting role in St. Joan.

He takes the audience on the full journey with his character, from the curious, thoughtful, but scattered monarch we first meet; to the pitiful wretch in a soiled diaper, howling in a wheelchair; all the way through to a gorgeous Act II scene in which, returned to sanity, he reads from King Lear with some of his courtiers.”

This show is worth seeing for McCamus’s great performance, and for the top-notch physical realization of its meta-theatrical concept.
Toronto Star Link

3/4 Globe and Mail – J. Kelly Nestruck
“The politics of the period are distilled down to the irony of George losing his American colonies and then his mind – and a couple of quick speeches about Tories liking to save money, and Whigs liking to spend it and an offhand reference to the slave trade.

But perhaps Bennett’s play is more compelling in a production that is less frivolously farcical, with fewer unfettered performances.”
Globe and Mail Link

★ ★ ★ ★ /5 Niagara Falls Review – John Law
“Complementing McCamus here are little joys like Ken MacDonald’s regal set design, and the still remarkable Jim Mezon in dual roles as Fox and Dr. Baker. If anything, here’s a rare opportunity to see two Shaw and Stratford icons share the same stage.

Carroll has several intriguing shows teed up for his debut season with Shaw, and this is the first slam dunk.

Missing it would be mad.”
Niagara Falls Review link

Photos David Cooper

More information about “The Madness of King George” at the Shaw Festival.