Off-Broadway show about a ‘gay’ future Prince George with ‘F-slur’ title sparks backlash
The play has been criticised as ‘creepy’ fanfic (Playwrights Horizons/Marc J. Franklin)
The play has been criticised as 'creepy' fanfic (Playwrights Horizons/Marc J. Franklin)
An off-Broadway show which imagines a fictional future version of Prince George “coming out of the closet” as gay has sparked backlash for its explicit themes at a time when the real-life royal is aged just 11.
Written by Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill, the play, Prince F****t, is set in 2032 and imagines what might happen if Prince George – eldest son of William and Catherine and currently second-in-line to the British throne– comes out as gay and embarks on a relationship with an Oxford educated Indian man, Dev.
“Let us tell you a fairy tale about a prince,” the synopsis for the play reads.
“In this meta-theatrical tragicomedy, an ensemble of queer and trans performers cast themselves in a thought experiment, imagining the future heir to the British throne as having a life resembling their own. Reckoning with how the forces of power, privilege, and colonization play upon queer lives, Prince F****t is a raw and radical take on a queer coming of age.”
Directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, John McCrea (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) plays the titular prince whilst Mihir Kumar (And Just Like That) portrays Dev.
The show has been a hit with critics and audiences in New York with its run extended, but at the same time it has come under fire for explicit and graphic depictions of sex and drug use, including BDSM and chemsex, all whilst the real Prince George is still a child.
Notably, a disclaimer on the play’s website states that “due to sexual content, nudity, and subject matter, this play is best suited for ages 18+”.
Some audience members have said the fact the story was about a fictionalised version of the real life Prince George, rather than an entirely fictionalised character like there is in the hit MLM novel Red, White and Royal Blue, gave them the “ick”.
“Interesting concept, really grossed out that the playwright decided to use the basis of the main character on a real person, and one who is a minor no less,” one Reddit user said in a thread about the play. “Feels wrong and is giving me the ick.”
“I just can’t get past that they used the real name of a real child in this play. Regardless of how f**ked up his family is, is it right to essentially write fan fiction about a real child? Would it have been so hard to thinly veil the commentary by changing the names?” a second said.
“Weird they picked an actual child to be the subject of the show when speculation on sexuality can be so harmful,” a third person agreed.
“Has the playwright even read Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuestion?” another asked. “She also used the British monarchy for inspiration, made the Prince of Wales gay, and changed enough to bare no resemblance to William/Harry/George/Louis, or any of the other royals.
“It can be done. No one needs to name characters after real people, when these real people haven’t done anything in the show to begin with, have no involvement, and are well under the age of consent for any of this. It’s just wrong.”
Ahead of the world premiere of the play, Prince F****t was described as a “meta-theatrical satire” and noted in a statement that whilst audiences might be “imagining royals in this play” the “ensemble are the leads, the protagonists”.
“As we think through the ways colonization has shaped our lives, the ways our sexualities intersect with power, and the ways we talk about queer childhood – and why, so often, we don’t,” Tannahill said.
“I’ve found the way to engage in topics like this is not to shy away from them. The intent is less provocation than to speak as clearly, and honestly as possible – and perhaps to ask why that can sound so provocative.”
Chowdhury said in the same release that “[Tannahill] has written the kind of audacious theatrical experiment that excites me most as a director”.
“It’s a group of performers allowing themselves to inhabit characters that are usually off-limits to them, and through that act of irreverence, inviting us all to imagine a little more freely,” Chowdhury added.
