Backstairs Billy

by Marcelo Dos Santos

1979. Clarence House, London. The Queen Mother's receptions are in full swing and the champagne is flowing. Guiding the proceedings is William 'Billy' Tallon, page of the backstairs, keeper of the keys, holder of the royal corgis – and the royal secrets.

Outside the palace walls, unemployment, inflation and industrial action are bringing Britain to its knees, and the country is on the verge of changing seismically under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. These two worlds are about to collide, with dizzying consequences for everyone...

Backstairs Billy examines the fifty-year relationship between the Queen Mother and her most loyal, most outrageous servant, who joined her household at the age of fifteen. Marcelo Dos Santos's irreverent comedy was first produced by the Michael Grandage Company at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, in 2023, directed by Grandage and starring Penelope Wilton and Luke Evans.

Genres: Plays

134 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 16, 2023

Reviews

[Nadja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny, thought-provoking play about class, power and tradition. I saw it in the West End and Luke Evans and Penelope Wilton were terrific.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although some critics rather trashed this, I found much of it drolly witty and just a hoot and a half. I'm sure Penelope Wilton was terrific as the Queen Mum. I am curious about the final scene, which requires one of the infamous corgis to relieve itself on cue.... that must have been an amusing assignment for some poor dog wrangler.

https://www.timeout.com/london/theatr...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/w...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...

[T.O. Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having booked to say Marcelo Dos Santos' West End play in January, I got the script as a little Christmas treat.

The play focusses on a short period in April 1979 when William Tallon had already been in the service of Her Majesty The Queen Mother for over twenty years, having joined her household shortly after the death of her husband George VI.

The motif of the loyal and inscrutable servant to a royal widow/divorcee has been played out in a number of ways and times with John Brown and Queen Victoria, Sydney Johnson and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Paul Burrell and Diana Princess of Wales.

Dos Santos gives us an interesting vignette of faded/fading glories and the flawed but charming footman who is determined to preserve and serve. The script emphasises Tallon's sexuality at a time when - while legal - homosexuality was still subject to discrimination and stigma. It was only a couple of years after the main events of the play that Peter Tatchell, the first openly gay parliamentary candidate, would be defeated in a safe labour seat by a liberal campaign from Simon Hughes that fanned the flames of prejudice. While Section 28 still lay a decade in the future.

The script is sharply observed and I look forward to finding out how it is delivered on the stage, and in particular how the occasionally appearing corgis rise (or squat) to their respective stage difrections!

[Joel Wall · Rating 3 out of 5]

certainly not something I would have picked out to read myself, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this comedy about the Queen mother contained politics and gays, even if they were not explored as deeply as I'd have liked.