Mark Gleisser’s adaptation of Bernard Shaw’s play The Devil’s Disciple relocates the story from its 18th-century setting of the American Revolution against the English to the 19th-century American attempt to conquer the Philippines.
The show opens and closes with brief scenes in which American politicians speak about their response to the rebellion of the Filipino people. President McKinley insists it’s not a conquest but a “benevolent assimilation”. The means used to assimilate the population include torture and concentration camps. We hear the words of Rudyard Kipling throwing their weight behind the imperialist invaders.
Other scenes focus on the Conroe family, who are visited by the local clergyman Paul Prestwick (Richard Lynson). He brings news to Adele (Jill Greenacre) that her husband has died, leaving most of his estate to the supposedly reprobate son Richard (Callum Woodhouse) rather than his wife or other son.
However, when the occupying soldiers later come to arrest Prestwick for treason, Richard claims he is Prestwick. In court, he is defended by Judith (Beth Burrows), a lawyer who is also the wife of the missing clergyman.
The plot is essentially that of Shaw’s comic melodrama without the wit of the original. Although the more contemporary political context seems more suited to the year 2025 when the newly elected American President is talking about the possibility of military action to take over other countries, this aspect of the play remains peripheral to the lightweight story of Richard, which, despite the efforts of a good cast, lacks dramatic tension.