Believe What You Will

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Play Opened 1 February 2006, Closed 11 February 2006

Trafalgar Studios 1 At the Whitehall Theatre, Whitehall, London

"I will like a palm tree, Grow under my huge weight. Nor shall the fear, Of death or torture that dejection bring. To make me live, or die, less than a king."Believe What You Will, Act I Scene i

A Middle Eastern leader comes out of hiding to reclaim his identity. Denied of his crown and denounced by the Roman Empire, he flees for his life. Rome pursues, threatening any country he turns to with sanctions, violence and conquest. Which sovereign state will defy the Roman Empire?

"Josie Rourke's excellent revival" The Guardian

Believe What You Will was written by Philip Massinger. This production is directed by Josie Rourke and was previously seen at The Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon during the 2005 Festival Season.

"Rourke's production... is both splendidly acted and blessed with great lucidity" The Daily Telegraph

"Josie Rourke's powerful and atmospheric staging of Phillip Massinger's Believe What You Will" The Independent

"No wonder Philip Massinger got into trouble with this play. In its original form, it was banned by the master of the revels in 1630 because it would have offended Philip II of Spain: it was about his overthrow of poor King Sebastian of Portugal and the emergence of a pretender who was almost certainly an imposter. The following year, a new version was allowed. Here, the pretender clearly isn't an imposter: he is King Antiochus the Great (Peter de Jersey), defeated by Rome in 190BC. I doubt if anyone was fooled by the change. The message is clear. Massinger is writing about the misuse of power: a favourite topic of Jacobean and Caroline theatre, and one that hasn't lost its-force... The company acting is of the highest standard: the RSC is back, and Michael Boyd's leadership is beginning to pay its long-awaited dividends." The Sunday Times