I was as much encouraged to see this play by the lead - Simon Russell Beale - as the content - a biography of the Georgian actor, Samuel Foote. In the event, the content was interesting and admirably delivered. It covered the difficulties the theatre faced at the time from the censorship of the Lord Chamberlain as well as introducing notable names from the theatrical world including David Garrick. Foote's own life was fascinating and the amputation of his left leg was done with a clever combination of humour and wince-making detail. S R B was as expected brilliant and well supported by the others, especially, I thought, Dervla Kirwan.
The text by Ian Kelly, was cleverly written, quite bawdy without being embarrassing. The two acts of the play had, for me, quite different tones. The first was largely light but culminated in the riding accident that necessitated the amputation. The second half was a good deal darker, dealing with the psychological as well as the physical impact of the amputation.
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