Shakespeare’s Cousin
White Beat Theatre, London
Writer: Jonathan Moore
Director: Jonathan Moore
Cast: Robin Kingsland, Danny Solomon, Alex Townson
Dates of run: until November 28
Running time: two hours, including interval
Producer: AMDG Productions
Ambiguity is central to Shakespeare’s greatness. He is rich, unclear and open to interpretation.
The latest play of director, writer and actor Jonathan Moore suggests that was a survival skill to protect his catholic soul and save his skin, inspired by the unhappy example of his distant cousin, the poet and Jesuit priest Robert Southwell, who decided not to disguise his beliefs.
Southwell was one of the most illustrious victims of Sir Richard Topcliffe, Queen Elizabeth I’s torturer-in-chief who stood apart even in an age of ruthless religious persecution for having a private torture chamber in his home where he perfected a method of hanging prisoners by their wrists in iron cuffs against a wall. The agony as their bodies’ weight ripped them apart internally was almost impossible to bear.
The drama is undeniable and a bit too much for those who left in the interval, unwilling to face the prospect of another hour of horribly realistic screams and the relish of sadism displayed by Robin Kingsland as an urbane, superbly double Topcliffe.
His more than worthy opponent is Danny Solomon as a convincing Southwell. Indeed, this play is a tribute to Southwell, rather than to Shakespeare. Shakespeare, it is implied, borrowed from his work, but, as Southwell remarks, is the one who will be remembered. If you discount Southwell’s beatification and sainthood, that is true, but one of the merits of this highly researched, educational play is that it will send people in search of his poetry.
The weakness, is that Shakespeare, played by Alex Townson, is comparatively lightweight. More boy than man, as much a coward as a pragmatist, he protests too much. We find ourselves wondering who would have been the greater writer had Southwell not met such an appalling, premature end.
Barbara Lewis © 2026.
Shakespeare’s Cousin
White Beat Theatre, London
Writer: Jonathan Moore
Director: Jonathan Moore
Cast: Robin Kingsland, Danny Solomon, Alex Townson
Dates of run: until November 28
Running time: two hours, including interval
Producer: AMDG Productions
Ambiguity is central to Shakespeare’s greatness. He is rich, unclear and open to interpretation.
The latest play of director, writer and actor Jonathan Moore suggests that was a survival skill to protect his catholic soul and save his skin, inspired by the unhappy example of his distant cousin, the poet and Jesuit priest Robert Southwell, who decided not to disguise his beliefs.
Southwell was one of the most illustrious victims of Sir Richard Topcliffe, Queen Elizabeth I’s torturer-in-chief who stood apart even in an age of ruthless religious persecution for having a private torture chamber in his home where he perfected a method of hanging prisoners by their wrists in iron cuffs against a wall. The agony as their bodies’ weight ripped them apart internally was almost impossible to bear.
The drama is undeniable and a bit too much for those who left in the interval, unwilling to face the prospect of another hour of horribly realistic screams and the relish of sadism displayed by Robin Kingsland as an urbane, superbly double Topcliffe.
His more than worthy opponent is Danny Solomon as a convincing Southwell. Indeed, this play is a tribute to Southwell, rather than to Shakespeare. Shakespeare, it is implied, borrowed from his work, but, as Southwell remarks, is the one who will be remembered. If you discount Southwell’s beatification and sainthood, that is true, but one of the merits of this highly researched, educational play is that it will send people in search of his poetry.
The weakness, is that Shakespeare, played by Alex Townson, is comparatively lightweight. More boy than man, as much a coward as a pragmatist, he protests too much. We find ourselves wondering who would have been the greater writer had Southwell not met such an appalling, premature end.
Barbara Lewis © 2026.
By Barbara Lewis • added recently on London Grip, plays, playwrights, theatre • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, playwrights, theatre