Gosh, it’s a real clunker of a title. Thankfully this decent and worthy show eventually manages to crawl out from under it, but its leaden name unfortunately suits most of the play rather too well.

Telling the story of Edward VIII’s love for Mrs Simpson and his eventual abdication, much of the first act consists of two or three people sitting down in a luscious room and talking. One is almost always Queen Mary, played with stoic and dutiful charm by Susi Walker. She hosts a procession of royals with whom she discusses the burgeoning crisis. And that is pretty much all that happens.

But some fine moments follow. A pre-dinner conversation of small talk to end the first act is artfully and excruciatingly awkward - which works largely because so much is left unsaid.

The play peaks in the second half with a powerful scene in which the modest and humble future George VI (well played by a squirming, stammering and quietly noble Alex Comer) is at first cowed and then emboldened as he hears of his brother’s exchange of the throne for a constitutionally unacceptable wife. That they address each other with their real names - David and Bertie - rather than their official titles neatly demonstrates the conflict between human being and state figurehead.

Mike Tildesley makes a believable Edward, despite initially lacking the monarch’s self-assurance and sense of purpose, with a static yet well-realised set providing fitting stuffy opulence. A bit more directorial innovation might have seasoned the stodge, but overall this is a sound portrayal of a story that still captivates.

Peter Ormerod 7/10