Theatre / Reviews
Review: The Libertine, Bristol Old Vic
“All a man needs is a whore and a horse.”
One of the many lascivious maxims uttered by John Wilmot, admirably played by Martin Hutson, who, as the Earl of Rochester is the irrepressible central character in Stephen Jeffrey’s The Libertine at Bristol Old Vic.
Set during the Restoration in the reign of Charles II, it’s a time where puritanism has been well and truly extinguished by Rochester and his merry clique of fops and popinjays, whose wenching and boozing knows no bounds.
Director Dominic Hill brilliantly conveys the licentiousness and debauchery prevalent among the English nobility, who were feted by the monarch and encouraged to flaunt their wealth and power in post-Cromwellian England.
The Earl finally meets his match when he falls for actress Elisabeth Barry during an encounter at the playhouse.
The second half of the play opens with a lewd play within a play which narrowly avoids descending into Carry On territory.
The Libertine is amusing, engaging and inventive in equal measure with the cast, at one point abandoning the stage to jeer and cajole the players within the play from the pit.
Get down to King Street and immerse yourself in the world of John Wilmot, The Earl of Rochester. Like the man himself boasts, you won’t be able to take your eyes off him.
By Paul Hassan
The Libertine is at Bristol Old Vic today at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/libertine.html for more information.
Photo by Tim Morozzo
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