Kings Theatre, Glasgow – until 16 February 2019
Reviewed by Linda McLaughlan
5*****
Attending the production I was little apprehensive about the show which had been written by Ian and Nick firstly for the radio and then for theatre. The story of William Hone (played by Joseph Prowen and Cruikshank (Played by Peter Losasso) was cleverly portrayed and although I personally found the Act 1 very slow and I found this very mundane at times.Yes there were periods of laughter as Hone a simple book shop owner who produced pamphlets to encourage and demonstrate the peoples right to freedom of speech alongside Cruishank’s which were very comical and took the mickey out of the Satire and Parliament of the time some 200 years ago. These pamphlets and publications led to the Hone being incarcerated and put on trial for blasphemy and seditious libel by the Regency government.
The production follows the 3 trials that Hone endured over a period of 3 days and how he defended himself and used the court room to justify his thoughts and writings and used jokes and laughter to convince the jury of his innocence. This encouraged audience participation and the laughed and jeered appropriately at the injustice of the trial on display. Act 2 I found to be much more interesting and was able to enjoy the performances of a man’s fight to defend not only his right to freedom of speech but also the right of the people of the country.
Yes it does have a very direct and cynical approach to the frolicking of the Prince of Wales in many cartoons.
At the end of the production we were then invited to stay for a question and answer session with Ian and Nick alongside Dan Mersh who played Lord Ellenborugh, one of the key instigators in bringing Hone’s pamphlets and writings to an end. At the end of the production and Q & A I came away feeling very surprised by how much I enjoyed hearing the story of Hone and Cruikshank and their person battles which still have an impact today.