Nick Dear's new play, Power, is a period costume drama about seven people in the French court of King Louis XIV. All but the last two of the 19 scenes take place in 1661, when the 22-year-old Louis decides to "rule personally." His domineering mother, Anne, who has enjoyed running things as Regent, objects, "Kings do not do that. We have help." But Louis takes power anyway. The other characters include his transvestite brother, Philippe, and the latter's wife Henriette, who carries on an affair with Louis until the King transfers his affections to her 16-year-old maid-of-honor, Louise.
Rounding out the group are Nicholas Fouquet, who has cooked the books and embezzled a personal fortune, along with accountant Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who ferrets out the financial skullduggery and eventually causes Fouquet's fall.
The playwright has unnecessarily sprinkled his text liberally with linguistic vulgarities, which serve only to startle. There is some anachronistic dialogue, though he has also provided a good many witty lines, such as "paying Moliere good money to insult us."
The moustachioed Robert Lindsay is splendid in the central role of Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finance who hopes to rise to First Minister; he can be ingratiating, but his arrogance leads him in the end to tell the King, "You'll never do anything , because you have no style." Stephen Boxer makes a delightfully creepy Colbert and Barbara Jefford a terrifying Queen Mother. As the Sun King, Rupert Penry-Jones throws himself into the part with relish, even performing a flamboyant solo dance to impress Louise. The other three roles come across satisfactorily, though the part of Henriette is underwritten.
The audience sits on three sides of Christopher Oram's uncluttered sets, and Oram's costumes provide a feast.
