The City Madam

Synopsis

A respectable London merchant is cursed with a wife and daughters who have social ambitions way above their station and his purse. With an eye on the main chance they have their minds ruthlessly set on being Countesses. Nothing is good enough for the shrewish women in his life and there is little he can do to curb their ruinous extravagance, or their mocking treatment of his impoverished younger brother. But little do they know that the worm they call brother-in-law is about to turn into a serpent whose sole intention is to devour all around him. In this hilarious comedy, Massinger strikes home with his satirical pot-shots at the hypocrisy and self-indulgence of 17th century London.

Our Review:

Simon Tavener - 12 May 2011

Philip Massinger is a playwright few regular theatregoers will have encountered and it is yet again a feather in the cap of the Royal Shakespeare Company that they bring back to the repertoire pieces that could all too easily be lost (other than to the world of academe). Running alongside the excellent Cardenio, Dominic Hill's punchy production of The City Madam makes a strong case for seeing Massinger make more frequent returns to UK theatres.

It is a complicated tale of a seventeenth century London family – the Frugals – the social-climbing wife, the wealthy but much put upon husband, their two attention-seeking daughters and an uncle who has fallen on hard times. We also encounter a rich variety of other characters – servants on the make, businessmen who have run out of credit, noblemen trying to protect their estates and many more. This all comes together in a very well-crafted satire of London in the time of Ch...

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Latest User Review

Artsgoer - 18 May 2011:

Well worth seeing;beautifully presented;not a weak link in the cast....

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