Photos: BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT At Theatre Royal Bath

Check out first-look photos of the cast of Daisy Goodwin’s debut play By Royal Appointment, ahead of its world premiere at Theatre Royal Bath, where it runs through 14 June before embarking on a UK tour.

Directed by former Shakespeare’s Globe Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole, By Royal Appointment stars Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax, The Mother) as Queen Elizabeth II, with beloved stage and screen star Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek) as The Dresser—the woman behind the royal wardrobe and, perhaps, behind the throne itself.

They are joined by James Dreyfus (Notting Hill, The Thin Blue Line) as The Milliner, James Wilby (Maurice, Poldark) as The Designer, and rising talent Gráinne Dromgoole as The Curator.

The late Queen Elizabeth II was world-renowned for her diplomacy—and her silence. But according to By Royal Appointment, she spoke volumes through another medium: fashion.

This new comedy-drama from screenwriter and novelist Daisy Goodwin (Victoria, The American Heiress) offers a poignant, funny, and revealing look into the lives of the people behind the Queen’s wardrobe—her Designer, her Milliner, and above all, her Dresser. A working-class woman with a sharp eye for color and an even sharper understanding of court politics, the Dresser rises to become a quiet force within the Palace. But, as always with royal favorites, her influence comes with an expiration date.

With a design team led by Jonathan Fensom (set), Oliver Fenwick (lighting), Ella Wahlström (sound), and Nina Dunn for PixelLux (projection), By Royal Appointment offers a sumptuous peek behind the palace doors, capturing the coded language of clothing, loyalty, and power.

Photo Credit: Nobby Clark.