I went to see Manfred at The King's Head Theatre, Islington on Sunday. The part of Manfred was being read by Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett in BBC's Robin Hood). The play was part of the Forgotten Classics series of readings by Primavera.
Manfred is the story of a noble who lives in the Bernes Alps. Tortured by the memory of an incestuous relationship with his sister which has somehow led to her death (by his or her own hand is not made clear. Manfred seeks forgetfulness and asks the Spirits/Destinies of the Earth to grant it, but this they are unable to do. He wanders the alps and is prevented from committing suicide only by the intervention of a passing chamois hunter. His torture continues and he visits the Underworld to challenge the King Arimanes where he encounters the Destinies again. They are enraged by his refusal to pay homage to Arimanes, but they produce the spirit of his love Astarte, but she refuses to speak and Manfred sees that as proof she has not forgiven him his crime against her.
Returning to his Castle, an Abbot tries to persuade him of the power of redemption through God, but Manfred refuses to seek that path and dies.
The play by Lord Byron is seen as semi-autobiographical. Its was written after he had fled England following his acrimonious separation from his wife Arabella Millbanke. Amongst gossip that Byron had taken part in sodomy and other (as were seen at the time) deviant practices, was the accusation that he had an incestuous relationship with his half-sister Augusta Leigh. The play was banned in Byron's lifetime, possibly as a result of its content, and possibly because of the vitriol felt towards him by members of English Society.
I have now seen Harry Lloyd in two plays (or readings) and he really has impressed me. At times he is quite stilted in Robin Hood, but here he was all passion, guilt and self loathing as the eponymous Manfred. He had no problems with the language and I never noticed him stumble over one word, which is more than be said for some of his fellow actors.
The other cast members of note were Phil Nice (lately seen in Bonkers on TV) as the Chamois Hunter and Herman, a servant of Manfred, Timothy Allsop as Manuel another servant and Davina Silver who brought a sprightliness and pertness to Spirit 1/Destiny 1. there was one part where Herman and Manuel were gearing up for a gossip, and the actors, restricted by their seats, managed to draw the audience in by their body language, leaning into each other in a conspiratorial way.
Its a shame this work is so overlooked, the poetry is at times beautiful, especially the introductions of the Destinies, and whilst it does lend itself very well to a reading where you can concentrate on the beauty of the dialogue, it would be interesting to see it performed as Byron meant it to be.
I went to see the play with 2 girls from the AA forum - Suzieq and PG and they were great company. An enjoyable evening was had by all and we had a lovely chat about all sorts, movies, actors, the AA, Robin Hood et al. This was added to by the fact Harry Lloyd stood chatting next to us for a while. In fact he knocked my arm and nearly spilt my drink - but I'd forgive him after that wonderful performance.
