By guest critic Alistair Wilkinson (@alistairwilks)
Is there a choice you wouldn’t have made, if you had known how that decision would have turned out? That is the question asked in Villain. Written and directed by Martin Murphy, this hour-long solo performance is intensely moving, satisfyingly upsetting, but with just the right amount of humour to make it upbeat.
What with the worst moments in human history threatening to repeat themselves in the western world, it’s to be expected that theatre will have a lot to say about it. Bernie C Byrnes seeks to comment directly on this cycle by incorporating modern Tory speeches into the volatile, tyrannical reign of Queen Mary I, with a focus on her determination to protect her country and its faith. She picks up on the strong parallels with the contemporary religious/fascist right.
