Film@BirrTheatre brings you the best of Irish, world and independent cinema on the theatre's big screen, every Thursday night at 8pm. This weeks title, The Lost King stars
oscar nominee Sally Hawkins who plays a dedicated historian on the trail of Richard III's final resting place in The Lost King. This is a life-affirming true story of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country's most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial kings in England's history.
Richard III, the last Yorkist and Plantagenet King, reigned for two years before his death at the Battle of Bosworth. He was the last English king to die in battle.
Immortalised by Shakespeare as an unscrupulous tyrant with a hunchback who killed his nephews amongst other crimes, historians have long debated the truth about this King, his life and death.
Directed by Stephen Frears and scripted by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope (BAFTA winners for Philomena),it tells the story of Philippa Langley (Hawkins), an unassuming and seemingly unconfident woman who is passed over for promotion at work, and separated from her husband John (Coogan), while still living with him and their two sons in their Edinburgh home.
Philippa attends a theatre production of Richard III and finds herself drawn to the play's subject – a man who is rejected by everyone, and who was the last English monarch to be slain on the battlefield (at Bosworth Field).
She is inspired by apparitions of the 15th century king in the form of the actor she has just seen on stage (Harry Lloyd), and joins the Edinburgh branch of the Richard III Society, beginning a journey that takes her to a Leicester car park – and one of the most extraordinary historical finds of modern times.
If you’re a history buff, or just intrigued by the story (and you don’t mind some artistic licence thrown in!), this one is well worth a watch.
At 107 mins and a cert of 12A, why not have a plan for this Thursday night at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre to come and see The Lost King on the big screen.
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