Going for gold

There’s gold out there. The search for lost masterpieces beguiles many a theatrical impresario but with it comes the danger that the thrill of the chase may convert a spirit of honest exploration into an obtuse reverence for the quarry.

There’s gold out there. The search for lost masterpieces beguiles many a theatrical impresario but with it comes the danger that the thrill of the chase may convert a spirit of honest exploration into an obtuse reverence for the quarry. The huntsman starts to believe that neglect proves excellence. Sturdy Beggars, an independent troupe who accept no public subsidy, are mounting a season of ‘forgotten gems’ from Eastern Europe.

The first stone they’ve uncovered is an anti-royal satire written in 1938 by Witold Gombrowicz, a Polish boulevardier who never quite made it out of the C-list of mittel-European wannabes. He gives his story the muscular and daring contours of a fairy tale. Philip, the handsome crown prince of Burgundia, selects the ugliest girl in the kingdom as his bride. The choice outrages his parents and throws the aristocratic lovelies at the palace into paroxysms of anger and jealousy. Having first feigned romantic interest, Philip finds himself genuinely smitten with his plug-ugly date, and their unlikely affair sets off a series of plots and intrigues as the incensed courtiers conspire to evict the amoebic interloper from the palace.

A summary of the play makes it sound rather more pithy and resonant than the full-length version. There’s plenty here to excite university theory-mongers but not nearly enough for the paying public. And it doesn’t help that Kos Mantzakos’s production is performed in white face by an all-male cast who play the female roles in screechy Little Britain ‘I’m-a-lady’ voices.