Two_Weeks_with_the_Queen

The play, ‘Two Weeks with the Queen’, should appeal to the majority of a modern audience. It is very heart warming but also humorous, and have strong messages about family relationships, courage and prejudice expressed in a very realistic way that we can relate to. ‘Two Weeks with the Queen’ gives the reader a sense of reality. In the beginning the reader is introduced to the main character, Colin, and his family, having Christmas dinner together. Then the play moves immediately onto the complication, Luke’s cancer. The play then follows Colin to England as he tries to find the best doctor in the world to help cure Luke’s cancer. While the play may revolve around this main conflict, other themes and ideas, such as prejudice to wards a gay couple, different family relationships, and the courage to face the problems in life, can be developed from this main conflict. The prejudice expressed in the play involves a gay couple, Ted and Griff, who Colin befriends. Initially, Ted was afraid of Colin’s reaction to the fact that he and Griff were gay. However that was proven not to be the case, as these lines reveal: “Is that why they bash you up ‘cos you and Griff are in love' I don’t mind going to the hospital for you honest.” Sadly not everyone is willing to accept individual differences, as it was true for Griff’s parents: “I am not their favourite person. Me and Ted and… this. They can’t accept things.” Even as he lied in his death bed, they did not come for him. They were only willing to accept him after his death: “They will come for him now; they’ll take him back to Wales for his funeral.” A family relationship is a topic that can be easily understand by a modern audience and is one of the main themes for the play. This includes Colin and his family, Alistair and his parents, and Griff and his rejection by his parents. The realisation of the close bond that he has with his family, lead to Colin trying to get back home in order to be with his dying brother and make him happy. In Alistair’s case, his problem resides within the strictness of his parents; but he learned to stand up to them due to Colin’s influence. Griff was rejected by his parents due to the fact that he was gay. Even so, he asked for them as he lied in his death bed but they did not come. It si a hard thing to find the courage within yourself to face life’s difficulties as many would have realised. In the course of this story, many characters found the courage to face their problems. Colin found the courage to accept the difficult truth in matters surrounding his brother. He realised that it does not matter of Luke dose not have the best doctors in the world as long as he had his family with him he would be happy. This realisation leads him to returning home to be with Luke: “You don’t understand. I have to go home and be with Luke.” On the other hand, Alistair found the courage to confront his parents and will no longer let them boss him around: “And you telling me what to do day and night. Do this Alistair, do that! Well I had it.” After his outburst, his parents became less strict and let him make his own decisions. Alistair’s parents, Bob and Iris, also showed a considerable amount of courage when they started letting Alistair make his own decisions after his confrontation with them. ‘Two Weeks with the Queen’ is a play that would be greatly enjoyed by a modern audience. It is a play that talks about prejudice, family relationship, courage and many other themes that can be easily understood by a modern audience. This play helps the audience to understand and open their eyes to the many different problems that we may face in our lives.