The Stage

Power

Published Monday 16 February 2004 at 12:30 by Peter Hepple

Nick Dear’s talent for writing plays about historical figures is amply proved by this immensely watchable, if somewhat reductive, account of the early years of Louis XIV’s reign. The playing area, traverse with the audience on three sides, is versatile enough to serve a variety of scenes and locations and what it lacks in spectacle, it makes up for with Christopher Oram’s imposing range of costumes for both sexes. Above all, it gives the impression of being enjoyable for the director, Lindsay Posner, and the seven actors, who tackle the colourful narrative with relish.

The young Louis, only 22 at the time, has just taken over the reins of power from his mother following the death of cardinal Mazarin and is determined to usher in a new and fully accountable regime, which gives the play a presumably intentional contemporary resonance. As it turns out, things do not go entirely to plan - where have we come across this before? - partly because of his own shortcomings. For one thing, Louis is only just discovering the joys of sex, beginning with the wife of his own monstrously effete brother, and then continuing with Henriette’s maid of honour Louise de la Valliere. But the major fly in the ointment is the roguishly charming Fouquet, his head of finance, who is obviously feathering his own nest from the king’s exchequer, though nobody quite knows how, with the exception of the dry and humourless Colbert, who obviously has ambitions to step into Fouquet’s shoes.

The thrust of the play is therefore modernity versus tradition, as well as Louis’ growing recognition of the pleasures of power as he first casts aside his mother and then Fouquet, a rather more obstinate opponent than even the formidable Anne of Austria. Robert Lindsay is in his element as the flamboyant but shrewd Fouquet but Rupert Penry-Jones gives the better performance as the King, learning to cast aside a degenerate lifestyle.

But this is high-standard acting throughout, Geraldine Somerville and Hattie Morahan as the paramours, Barbara Jefford in full sail as the Queen Mother, Stephen Boxer as the bloodless Colbert and Jonathan Slinger positively splendiferous as the cross-dressing Philippe.

This show was reviewed prior to the website launch. A new review is pending.