Count Alessandro Cagliostro is the topic of this curious show from Alchemy Theatre, which played at Camden Fringe.
Apologia is billed as “the first stage play to answer the question [of who is Alessandro Cagliostro] honestly.”
As I am very interested in historical biopics, I wanted to see if it was possible to do this in an hour. To quote the character himself, “to answer every accusation.”
It turned out it wasn’t. The show ran over by nearly 25 minutes longer than billed (not great when a festival is all about supporting a range of shows in a tight schedule) and I came away feeling that I still only knew snippets about this enigmatic man.
Written by Gillian Mciver, Apologia utilises live (and looped) music, interpretative movement, and a story that takes in multiple locations and characters. Clearly, Mciver has researched a lot to create Apologia.
Cagliostro is a creation, a fallacy – we see him first as a street child, a common thief who is taken under the wing of a man who experiments with medicine and magic.
There’s so much potential here to show how this boy was given the gift of magic, but after an early atmospheric sequence around a dream, we simply skipped ahead in time.
A marriage with Serafina has elements of farce, while her flirtation with Casanova (about whom we know much more, whether accurate of not) is given a little too much time in a drama about Cagliostro.
On to the performances. There are four actors. Maurizio Molino does most of the heavy lifting as the main character, but it is an uneven turn that ranges from petulance to penitence after a strong start.
Jagoda Kamov is good as young Cagliostro, conveying mischief and terror, and is a strong Serafina, especially good in the scene where she first meets the mysterious Count, and more than a match for Casanova.
Casanova is embodied by Luke Lindemann, and he steals the scenes he is in, white-faced, viper-tongued, and confident. Tommy Papaioannou plays both the magic doctor and an Igor-like servant, obsequient and oily.
Jagoda Kamov directs this play, but something is off with the pacing and timing. The play doesn’t feel finished and although it is definitely is the type of show that can and should be tested out on the fringe stage, I think it needs a bit more development and focus.
Apologia is at Camden Fringe tonight – details here.
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