MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
Queen Anne
The Swan Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon
4/5
HELEN EDMUNDSON’S new play centres on what has been called “the most famous court intrigue in English history” and of all the monarchs who have been the stuff of so much history teaching Queen Anne — with the possible exception of assorted Georges — is perhaps the least well-known.
In seeking to redress that imbalance Edmundson, apart from scripting a fascinating domestic drama, provides a history lesson which highlights parallels with the present.
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by the lives of Charles and Mary Bagot, and the insight this biography shines on the morals of pre-Victorian society
GORDON PARSONS appreciates fine performances and a feel for ambiguity, but misses the music of the dialogue
GORDON PARSONS salutes the apt return of Brecht’s vaudevillian cartoon drama that retains the vitality of the boxing or the circus ring
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship



