My Dearest Byron

Bernie C Byrnes
Another Midas
C Cubed

From the wholehearted welcome, the choice of venue and the direct audience addresses, it was clear that My Dearest Byron was to be as self-indulgent and irreverent as the man was himself.

Taking place in a virtually empty space, the focus of the play is absolutely on the performance. The actors recount the scandalous love affair between Lord Byron and his long estranged sister Augusta. Both acquit themselves admirably, both with the convoluted dialogue and the physical sections, where the sex is played out in the form of a ballet. This is later contrasted with a retread of the same movements n a violent almost rape-like fashion, as the relationship and Byron's life begins to crumble.

The work was constructed upon the basis of surviving love letters between the two, giving an authenticity to it that otherwise might have gone astray, and the inclusion of Byron's poetic rhythms only add to the decadent sweetness of the tale.

Reviewer: Graeme Strachan

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