REVIEW: SHAKESPEARE'S COUSIN @ WHITE BEAR THEATRE

🎭 Shakespeare's Cousin

📍 White Bear Theatre, 138 Kennington Park Road, Kennington, London, SE11 4DJ

🗓 Thursday 12th November 2026

⭐️ 2 Stars

LOVE’S LABOUR’S DRAGGED OUT

Last night I was back at the White Bear Theatre, one of my favourite pub venues, and not just because it only takes me three minutes to walk there from home! I have seen some incredible theatre in this intimate space, and SHAKESPEARE’S COUSIN had a genuinely intriguing premise that I was very much looking forward to discovering.

Set in Elizabethan England and making its world premiere at the venue, Jonathan Moore’s play follows the capture and brutal interrogation of Jesuit priest and poet Robert Southwell at the hands of Queen Elizabeth’s notorious chief priest-hunter, Sir Richard Topcliffe. Things take a fictional turn when Southwell’s distant cousin - none other than a young William Shakespeare - sneaks into the prison disguised as a Catholic noble to visit him, sparking a debate about faith, censorship, and the true purpose of art.

While the characters and the historical backdrop are grounded in reality, Moore takes plenty of artistic license here. Putting Shakespeare inside Topcliffe’s torture chamber is a clever theatrical hook, though obviously there is no way we can ever know what their exact interactions might have been - or if they ever actually spoke at all.

The play opens with a seemingly friendly encounter between Southwell and Topcliffe, before the latter reveals his true colours and drags Southwell off to his personal torture chamber. Honestly, I was rather baffled by how Southwell seemed almost eager to be taken away - not protesting at all as he was led off to be strung up. It felt like a slightly odd choice that immediately made it harder to buy into the stakes of the situation.

From there, the script quickly becomes bogged down by far too many words. Moore seems to use thirty words when three would have been more than sufficient. At times it almost feels as if he is trying to show off his use of language, which unfortunately bordered on coming across as a bit pretentious. I constantly found my mind wandering, thinking about pretty mundane things to be honest, and I really had to force myself to focus on what was happening in front of me. Given the sheer volume of dense, archaic text the cast were expected to recite, it came as no surprise that the actors occasionally stumbled over their lines.

Credit where it is due, the depiction of the torture itself was genuinely effective. Perhaps it's the wrong word to use, but I enjoyed how this was done! Still, it succeeded in making the audience feel deeply uncomfortable, especially in a space as compact and close-quarters as the White Bear. Good theatre should push boundaries, and this is one thing the play actually managed to do well during the first half of the story.

There is a noticeable shift in tone once Shakespeare arrives – disguised as Sir Oliver – to visit his cousin in the cell. The style of the dialogue changes somewhat, and the piece becomes a little more jovial. Personally, I really didn’t enjoy the way they kept calling each other "cuz". Although I understand that this was likely a term they would have used, it somehow came across as very modern, and it pulled me right out of the period setting. Perhaps it was the frequency with which it was used that didn't sit right in my ear. Once again, there was an awful lot of talking with very little dramatic payoff. By the end of the evening, I couldn't help but think that this play could easily be condensed into a single, punchier one-act piece simply by cutting out all the fluff.

To make matters worse, the scene changes were long and clunky, and the pacing of the entire piece felt monotonous. During Act 1 I kept thinking we were heading into the interval, only for the action to keep dragging on. This was even worse during Act 2 when the lights went down and the audience began to applaud, thinking – or perhaps hoping – that the piece had finally reached its conclusion. Sadly not, and we were subjected to another couple of scenes before the real curtain call.

The one thing that really kept me watching was the acting, because all three of them are genuinely brilliant. Danny Solomon throws everything into Robert Southwell, and it is hard not to feel for him as he goes through those gruelling torture scenes. Robin Kingsland is great fun to hate as Sir Richard Topcliffe, switching from polite charm to nasty cruelty without ever going over the top. And when Alexander Townson turns up as a cheeky, slightly vain William Shakespeare, he brings some welcome energy to the room and works wonders with a very heavy script.

At the end of the day, SHAKESPEARE’S COUSIN has a fantastic idea behind it, which makes it all the more frustrating that it gets bogged down by too many words and slow pacing. Even with three really strong performances holding things together, the endless speeches and false endings left me struggling to stay invested. It is a bold piece with some big ideas, and I really wanted to love it, but it just didn't quite work for me.

As always though, I encourage you to make up your own mind and to support new theatre. Performances of SHAKESPEARE'S COUSIN continue at Kennington's White Bear Theatre until Saturday 28th November. CLICK HERE for more details, and to book tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Shakespeare's Cousin was gifted by Kevin Wilson PR, who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST:

Danny Solomon as Robert Southwell; Robin Kingsland as Sir Richard Topcliffe; Alexander Townson as William Shakespeare

CREATIVES:

Writer and Director - Jonathan Moore; Associate Producer / Assistant Director - Max Bancroft; Lighting and Sound Designer - Gabriel Burns; Set Designer / Costume Supervisor - Violet Gausden; Specialist Prop Maker - Deb Weston

RUNNING TIME (approx):

2 hours 15 minutes, including interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Strong language; Torture and interrogation; Violence and execution; Religious persecution and bigotry; References to rape

AGE GUIDELINE:

18+

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