The Mandrake                                                                                      

An English translation and adaptation of Machiavelli's great satire, La Mandragola

By James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton

London's brand-new Foul Papers Theatre Company is delighted to announce its inaugural production: the world-premiere of The Mandrake, a 350-year-old English translation and adaptation of Machiavelli's great satire, La Mandragola. The adaptation is by James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton, an important Royalist military leader at the time of England's Civil War. The production will premiere at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Mandrake tells the story of a young man in 17th century London who pursues a seemingly impossible goal: seducing the irresistible but proper young wife of a foolish old lawyer. With the help of trusted friends--and allies as unlikely as the local parson and the girl's own mother--a plot is hatched to trick the hapless lawyer into enthusiastically thrusting the young man into his young wife's bed.

Director Luke Beattie is in the process of staging all ten of Compton's known plays, none of which has a previous modern production history. Compton appears to have written most of the plays as a way to comment on the politics of the Cromwell years from a Royalist perspective.

Helping to bring The Mandrake to the Edinburgh Fringe is Foul Papers co-founder Sophie Hickman as Assistant Director, fresh from directing a critically acclaimed production of The Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda in London. The cast includes Jeremy Bourget (Trusty the servant), Andrew Boxer (Soonewrought the lawyer), Jeryl Burgess (Lady Horner the mother/an Old Lady), John Canmore (Renchetext the parson), Matthew Howard (lovesick Leaveland), Claire Jared (beautiful Mrs. Soonewrought), and Rob Stott (Lackwealth the sponger), Also signed on are New York-based lighting designer Mike Inwood, composer/musician Michael Whytock providing recorded original harpsichord music, and composer/musical engineer Andrew Popplestone.

Foul Papers strives for a fusion of textual research and vital present-day performance energy to create productions that entertain today's audiences without sacrificing respect for the playwright's efforts.

Venue:             Zoo Southside Studio, 117 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9ER (Venue 82)

Dates:              8-30 August 2010 (previews 6-7 August)

Time:               1.40 pm daily (90 minutes)

Ticket prices:   £8 (£6 concession), available from the venue and Fringe box offices.

                                              foul.papers@gmail.com; 07769289421

To book review tickets, please contact press@zoovenues.co.uk