There’s the kernel of a good show in this copycat Hamilton: Treason the Musical reviewed

Copycat Hamiltons are everywhere. Lin-Manuel Miranda led the way by turning an unexamined corner of history into a smash-hit show. The latest antique subject to become a musical is the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The script, by Ricky Allan and Kieran Lynn, ought to include those words in the title because they give vital data about the location, the historical period and some elements of the story. It’s a priceless asset. But they’ve tossed it aside and plumped instead for the vague, unsuggestive ‘Treason’. The best-known figure in the conspiracy, Guy Fawkes, gets a mention — as ‘Gwee-dough Forks’ — but doesn’t feature as a character. Another puzzling decision. Writers of musicals should locate the story’s best features and build on them. To discard them carelessly is bizarre and foolhardy.

The show opens with some aridly tragic warbling between a plotter called Thomas and his tearful wife, Martha. Thomas’s surname happens to be Percy and, sure enough, he receives ‘no mercy’. The authors won’t win many prizes for writing that lyric, nor for their attempts to conjure up the last days of Elizabeth I in timeless verse. ‘She is old and desperately frail/ The bells, the bells are ringing, and soon will come her last exhale.’

The show improves massively when Oliver Tompsett arrives as the dashing Robert Catesby who leads the revolt and stirs the sluggish plotters to action. These scenes are remarkably similar to the opening sections of Jesus Christ Superstar. There’s no harm in borrowing bits and bobs from classic shows but it carries certain risks: viewers can see exactly what you’re doing and they’re unlikely to judge your effort superior to the original. The 55-minute recording of Treason was staged as a concert performance. It needs development and some ruthless editing by an experienced producer.