THE recent media circus and general clamour around the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III, is by no means the first time that the future of the monarchy has been in question. A new play by Gavin Egan, at Dorchester Arts on Tuesday 4th November, looks at the fate of King Charles I.

This rehearsed reading of Death of the Monarchy will be a script-in-hand premiere of the play which is set in December 1648.

It is the aftermath of the English Civil War. King Charles is defeated and Oliver Cromwell is left to decide his fate – but the law is against him. The New Model Army is restless for justice and Parliament is unable to reach a consensus.

Death of The Monarchy is an exploration into the raw nature of power and the minds of those that seek it. Will we learn from history or are we forever prisoners of the past?

Playwright Gavin Egan, who has had previous plays produced in London, Basingstoke and at the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford, was part of the first group of writers invited to develop their writing with Soho Theatre Writers’ Group.

The rehearsed reading of the play, at Dorchester Corn Exchange, begins at 7.30pm.