Lost in translation? Dame Helen Mirren accused of altering performance as Queen Elizabeth II for US audiences in Broadway's The Audience

Helen Mirren has been accused of changing her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the Broadway version of The Audience to make it easier for Americans to understand.

Critics said that the actress put ‘topspin’ on her lines to emphasize the comedic elements in the first reviews of the play - which were decidedly mixed.

One reviewer claimed the show was ‘cuddly’ and for people who find Downton Abbey ‘too edgy’.

Lost in translation? Dame Helen Mirren has been accused of altering her performance as Queen Elizabeth II to suit American audiences in the Broadway version of her play, The Audience

Others attacked American actress Judith Ivey for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, which they said was ‘more sassy Texan than icy Iron Lady’.

The Audience transferred to New York after a hit run in London’s West End during, which Dame Helen won an Olivier award for Best Actress.

It charts Her Majesty’s life through a series of imagined conversations between her and the 12 Prime Ministers who have come and gone under her 62-year reign.

British fans fawned over the play and Dame Helen’s performance became one of the theatre events of the year. 

Mixed reviews: The actress, seen taking a bow during a curtain call on Sunday night, has received mixed, though mostly positive reviews for her performance

However, now it has reached America, The Audience, which opened on Sunday night, has received more varied reviews in the New York press.

The New York Times, which hailed her performance in London when the play opened in 2013 as ‘admirably centered and engaged performance’, was more critical this time.

Reviewer Ben Brantley picked on the first scene in which Dame Helen tells John Major, played by Dylan Barker: ‘For the most part, I’ve found my ministers to be very human. All too human.’

He wrote: ‘Ms Mirren is putting more topspin on such statements than she did when “The Audience” opened in London two years ago. 

Plaudits: The actress received rave reviews for the same role when the play debuted in the West End in 2013

‘Perhaps out of perceived deference to American audiences, the entire production feels both broader and looser in New York.’

The critic later clarified his comments, saying Dame Helen was not speaking in an American accent but was ‘italicizing (her lines), as it were, to emphasize the comic side of what she’s saying’.

Writing in the New York Daily News reviewer Joe Dziemianowicz, who gave it three out of five, said: ‘She’s the jewel in this crown. Still, her portrait never quite ascends to that elusive level of transcendence - or indelibility. 

THE AUDIENCE ON BROADWAY - THE REVIEWS ARE IN 

Soon after Helen Mirren appeared as the Queen in Broadway version of The Audience, reviews of the show started flowing in - and they're notaby mixed.

Helen Mirren has received mixed reviews for her performance as Queen Elizabth II in The Audience

Entertainment Weekly: ‘In truth, Elizabeth is a role better suited to the big screen, with close-ups and a director’s firm point-of-view to better amplify the reserved monarch’s many unspoken intentions.’

New York Times: ‘Ms Mirren is putting more topspin on such statements than she did when ‘The Audience’ opened in London two years ago. Perhaps out of perceived deference to American audiences, the entire production feels both broader and looser in New York.’

New York Post: ‘This cuddly take on royalty should please theatergoers who find "Downton Abbey" too edgy.’

New York Daily News: ‘Helen Mirren is so good as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience” that the star of stage, film and TV never needs to worry about a scene being stolen from her.’

New York Magazine: ‘For all the apparent centrality of the Tuesday meetings in the queen’s life - they are like the weekly call that a Jewish mother demands from her son - they were of very little consequence...and thus, for all the ermine, of little consequence to us.’

‘Don’t blame Dame Helen. The Broadway star vehicle she’s driving lacks the high-octane fuel to take her there.’

Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones said that the show ‘treads lightly on the whole Diana affair - too lightly, to my mind’ in an otherwise positive review.

The New York Post gave the play three stars out of four, calling Dame Helen ‘absolutely terrific’.

Elisabeth Vincentelli wrote: ‘It’s always obvious who the real ruler is when it comes to Broadway. Mirren’s crown is safe.’

Taking a bow: Dame Helen is seen with her co-stars (l-r) Rufus Wright, Judith Ivey, Dakin Matthews and Michael Elwyn at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre

However, she also added that the show was ‘cuddly’ and for people who find Downton Abbey ‘too edgy’.

Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney said: ‘The play might be a fragmented portrait but it’s nonetheless a full-bodied one, in which Mirren does a graceful jeté across the years from the savvy diplomatic novice to the shrewd veteran observer.’

A number of reviews said that the play would delight Anglophiles but the minutia of the modern British history might go over the heads of an American audience.

Asked whether or not US theatregoers would get the play, Dame Helen said in a recent interview with Newsday, a Long Island newspaper: ‘Well, we just don’t know.