Sold out as part of BedFest’s annual run, Rufus Goodman’s The Black Prince takes to Bedlam’s stage with striking topicality amidst this week’s headlines, which report the eviction of ex-Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from Royal Lodge and the disputed release of the infamous Epstein files. Despite the material’s darkness, the play manages to poke fun at its political relevance.
Goodman’s script skilfully reaps much humour from the admittedly sticky material: a paedophilic uncle returning to his family, trying to make amends. As young Lottie asks her uncle if they can hang out in her bedroom, an uneasy peal of laughter rings throughout the audience. Yet the play does not make light of the sensitive topic — much of its comedy isn’t actually to do with the paedophile in the room, but is executed instead by Leo Rodger’s gawkish Bill, delivering each innuendo and ‘ribbit’ excruciatingly, and butchering every attempt at suaveness — with the highlight being his delightfully cringeworthy ‘Piss off, Jehovah!’ punctuating the tension of Edward’s arrival. Bill tidying while listening to The Rest is Politics earns a good-natured chuckle from the audience early on. It would be remiss to overlook the sheer force of Rachel McLaren’s performance, too — delivering both crackerjack jokes as well as some of the more heart-warming moments, aided by her infectious laugh.
While the play opens with rather funny, sketch-like scenes, it struggles to remain focused as the drama unfurls. The parents tell their children that their uncle has been ‘a bit silly’, but not much more can really be said. What we are left with is a seemingly interminable dinner scene that feels too contrived — Katherine, despite her earlier protestations, caves in too easily, allowing her disgraced brother to dine with them — and too meandering. It doesn’t help that the set — originally used to heighten the comedy as the parents vow to keep their children safe while Edward entertains them in the next room — now feels restrictive, trapping the actors upstage as the tension rises. The parents pepper their 15-year-old with alcohol, and there is an out-of-place gag involving some Homer Simpson-themed Oodies.
Yet Goodman’s script regains control in the final section of the play, and impresses with a moving discussion between Spencer Shaw’s Katherine — who shines particularly as a mother bearing the household’s burden — and Goodman’s Edward. The play ends ambiguously but imbued with tragedy, raising interesting questions about the taboo topic without didactically reaching any conclusions.
Ultimately, the production lands its humour with confidence under Theodore Casimir Lambert’s direction — opening strongly and ending strikingly, but being somewhat softened by a tentative middle.
Photo by Leo Boothman provided as press material