American big business is bidding to annexe England as the 51st state… the prime minister desperately needs a policy initiative to regain popularity… bickering cabinet ministers are threatening to resign…. the monarch is embroiled in sex scandals, with the king anxious to retain what little influence he may have left…. and the majority of the electorate are too apathetic to be bothered to vote.
Great Britain today? Well not exactly, but a quite remarkable forecast of how we might be (indeed many would say we are), penned by that socialist firebrand George Bernard Shaw as long ago as 1928, but set “sometime in the future”.
Peter Hall has made a habit of including a Shaw offering in his company’s summer season at Bath, but never with such percipience as this articulate production that must surely be bound for the West End. Shaw may overdose on long political polemics delivered as monologues, but the large and disciplined cast make sure they never override the comedy or the relevance to today. His jaundice view on the role the Scots play in running the country brings the house down.
Charles Edwards mixes charm and cunning in equal quantity as a charismatic King Magnus, with James Laurenson all fluster and self-seeking as Prime Minister Proteus, while Barry Stanton and Penny Bunton are considerably larger than life as diametrically opposed Cabinet members Boanerges and Lysistrata. Meanwhile, Janie Dee sparkles like a diamond as the King’s mistress Orinthia, far more sexually astute than most of the men are politically aware.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)
