Arthur Wing Pinero’s breathless farce THE CABINET MINISTER is given a new life in a brand-new adaptation by Nancy Carroll directed by Paul Foster.
Sir Julian Twombley is in trouble: his wife and son have run up massive debts and his political reputation is in the balance. The House of Commons is far from a safe space for him and the newspapers are sniffing blood. Can he save face and hang on to his sanity?
Joining Nancy Carroll are George Blagden, Joe Edgar, Phoebe Fildes, Rosalind Ford, Dom Hodson, Dillie Keane, Nicholas Rowe, Laurence Ubong Williams, Romaya Weaver, and Matthew Woodyatt. This crack cast tackles this sparkling story of marriage, blackmail and class where all bets are off!
This delightfully pacy, elegant and stylish new adaptation by Nancy Carroll (who also stars as Lady Katherine Twombley) positively brims with vitality, full of salacious double entendres and unmistakable contemporary political allusions. With an enchanting set and period-costume design by Janet Bird, the four-act play, set between the Twombley’s conservatory in London and a Scottish castle where the family have decamped to facilitate a marriage proposal for their daughter from a wealthy nobleman, is directed with a winning combination of levity, riotous exuberance and occasional moral seriousness by Paul Foster.
Nancy Carroll adapts Arthur Wing Pinero’s classic, having starred in his other play The Magistrate in 2012. Through great understanding of his writing, Carroll effortlessly updates his writing to modernise it somewhat while still keeping it in its distinct setting. This allows for the play to feel instantly accessible and even more relevant (who’d have thought cabinet ministers doing dodgy dealings would be so relatable in 2024?). Though I must admit it took me a while to settle in to the story, it was impossible to let me go once it grabbed me. Refreshingly silly, moments do descend into utter farce while others are more subtle. While nothing quite made me roar with laughter, the consistent humour throughout ensured I was always chuckling mildly or, at the very least, grinning away.
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