REVIEW: CONVERSATIONS IN TUSCULUM by Richard Nelson, rehearsed reading at Drayton Arms Theatre 22 & 23 Sept 2024

‘there is no doubt that the author is passionate about the state of his country’

If history plays serve as a perspective to the present, Conversations in Tusculum succeeds. Though it's a slow and decidedly undramatic warm-up, (shouting matches often steal the spotlight from nuance, characters mill about the stage with no apparent conflict or reason for them being there), there is no doubt that the author is passionate about the state of his country, and eager to draw American parallels to the perceived dangers to Rome by Cicero, Brutus and Cassisus during Caesar's reign.

The politicians have gathered in a villa in Tusculum, a suburb of the wealthy, in the Alban hills, together with Portia, Brutus' wife and Cato's daughter, and Servilia, Cato's sister. Cicero comes here, to think and write and 'be patient' about the lamentable affairs of Rome. Brutus comes here out of respect for Cato, and Cassius seems to be here as Brutus' friend. Cicero, sick of his young wife who is unable to sympathise with him after his daughter's death in childbirth, and seems generally sick of life – and Rome. Brutus and Cassius are on a mission to persuade him to engage actively in saving the Republic, "before there is no Republic to save".         

Above the action hovers Cato, who dramatically self-martyred, provoking either the men's respect or disrespect, prompting them to question what their life is for. Portia is under-written and serves more like a servant than a woman in her own right, but Sicilia is the character who really comes to life. She has a stake in her own personal dramas, as well as in the fate of the Republic, which I did not feel any of the men in Tusculum did.

I cannot blame the actors solely for this lack of life, in this rehearsed reading (although a little less shouting would go a long way). Apart from Servilia, the script seems more like a mouthpiece for the author's dread about America's future, than a genuine interest for the characters and fates of the people he has chosen to portray. One wonders if it wouldn't make more sense to write an op-ed. In any case, the quality of the action, emotion and character development in the play does not justify the length.

The  cast  includes Sam Dale, Jenny Funnell,  Marcus  Hutton,  Justine Marler, Karack Osborn, and Patrick Shearer.   

Head of production : Ella Dale

https://www.tusculumlondon.com/