Caligula

KCS Theatre Company have made an excellent choice in bringing the dark comedy of Albert Camus to the fringe. This slick translation by David Grieg is given a spirited performance under the skilful direction of Adam Cross, who’s found an impressive lead in Luke Sumner’s Caligula.

The play opens with the Roman patricians in disorder after a third night has passed without sight of their emperor, Caligula. Following the death of his sister-lover, Drusila, Caius is forced to reassess the meaning, or meaningless, of life and death. Returning to court, he decides to test out a new philosophy on his subjects.

After seeming an inexperienced and easily-manipulated emperor, Caligula’s patricians are shocked by his commencement of a nihilistic campaign of terror. He takes lives at random, turns wives into whores and inflicts famine on his subjects: all in order to become truly ‘free’. In his search for absolute freedom he seeks to attain the impossible, reasoning that if he can carry out an act of God – like making love to the moon – he would have the power to create meaning where none exists.

Through their imaginative use of the small C-Venue space, a creative approach to costume and a cast of well-realised characters KCS more than do justice to this powerful exploration of the terrifying logic of Caligula: their production not only entertains but affirms life’s core values.

– Charlotte Pegram