A DEFINING MOMENT FOR A MONARCHY

There is an uncommon alliance in “The King’s Speech,” David Seidler’s magnificent play that opened Friday evening in a smart and savvy Michael Wilson-directed Chicago Shakespeare Theater North American premiere at The Yard on Navy Pier. The bond between a future King of England and an Australian actor who serves as his speech therapist—portrayed with awe-inspiring depth by Harry Hadden-Paton and James Frain, respectively—becomes a defining moment for a monarchy still reeling from the effects of one world war and the growing threat of another.