Review: THAT KNAVE, RALEIGH – ADELAIDE FRINGE 2025 at Main Theatre, Adelaide College Of The Arts

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 22nd February 2025.

Dyad Productions is back at our Fringe with three performances, the first featuring Andrew Margerison, directed by Rebecca Vaughan, in, That Knave, Raleigh. If you had English History lessons at school, you probably know little more than that Sir Walter Raleigh led his fleet to defeat the Spanish Armada, and have heard the anecdote that he placed his cape on the ground so that Queen Elizabeth could cross without stepping in the mud. There is much more to his story than that.

The production is primarily concerned with Raleigh’s life after James I succeeded Elizabeth I, and the King accused him of being a traitor. From his well-researched script, Margerison breathes life into Raleigh’s tale, taking the facts and bringing them to life in a captivating narrative. With occasional references to earlier parts of his life, Raleigh tells of being taken from prison in the Tower of London, to a biased trial that condemned him to death, reprieved on the scaffold to spend 13 years in prison, set free in 1616, but not pardoned, sent to seek the gold of the legendary El Dorado, and to his eventual execution. There are no ‘spoilers’ in this synopsis; it’s history.

What Margerison does is to show us the man, his character, and his many facets. Raleigh wrote poetry, had a love of fine clothes, studied at Oxford, fought the rebels in Ireland, for which he was awarded vast estates in Munster, served as a Member of Parliament, and had a family, but you’ll hear more of them in the performance.

Margerison does his character justice in a superb performance, aided only by a few pieces of furniture to delineate different places and times, an occasional variation to his costume, and some very effective lighting. Historical drama is a genre that the English do well. Growing up in London, I was surrounded by history and, like so many, it fascinated me. This production satisfied my love of the past, as well as my love of excellent theatre. Margerison provided both in this wonderful production. There are gems in the Fringe, and this is one of them this year.

This was a fine start to my Fringe for 2025, and the second performance of the afternoon, A Room of One’s Own, continued the pleasure.

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