Galeros off to the producers of ‘The Cardinal’, a half-forgotten revenge drama by James Shirley. Stylistically you’d call it a Jacobean tragedy (ie everyone dies at the end), but it’s actually one of the last to be staged during the reign of Charles I (which makes it the Caroline era, fact fans).
The plot is hokey as you like, but that’s kind of the deal with this era of play, which owed little to the gorgeous existential philosophy of ‘Hamlet’, everything to its bloodbath ending, with a heapload of knowing camp tossed in on top.
Duchess Rosaura (Natalie Simpson) has not had a good time with the men. First her husband died before the marriage could be consummated. Then the scheming Cardinal (Stephen Boxer, just the sensible side of supervillain) betrothed her to his creepy nephew Columbo (Jay Saighal), despite previous assurance that she could marry who she’d like. She writes Columbo an impassioned letter asking if he’d consider sacking off the engagement so that she can marry her true love Count d’Alvarez... and in a stupendous misreading of the signals Columbo agrees, believing it will be taken as a grand gesture of romantic rhetoric, not that she’ll take him at his word.
Anyway, long story short, Columbo takes revenge, triggering a series of events that build to a tremendous – and intermittently hilarious – bloodbath. It is a far from perfect play in all respects, but a decent satire on the abuse of power that’s camp as Christmas to boot, and Justin Audibert gives it an efficient production with an impressively experienced cast. I feel like it’s ultimately crying out for a bigger, madder, braver production, but if that does come along anytime soon it’ll be because of the groundwork done here.