Synopsis

In this pared down, pacy adaptation, Derek Coe cuts out extraneous plotting to focus on issues that resonate with us today – hypocrisy in government, morality, sexual harassment and the wider role of women. Plus, it’s a rattling good yarn.

The Duke of Vienna steps aside from public life, charging his two deputies to tighten up morality laws. However, he disguises himself as a Friar, to see how his deputies go about their reforms. When a young man is sentenced to death, his sister appeals to one of the deputies for mercy – which he offers to grant, providing she sacrifices her virginity to him in return…

This adaptation features comedy, word play, beautiful soliloquies and even a classic ‘bed trick’. It brings out the best of a play which Robert M Smith once described as ‘a merry, bawdy and irresistible evening’s entertainment.’