Poxed at the Royal

Both actors & audience entered into a high state of animation at last nights performance of "Poxed" at Hobart's Royal Theatre Backspace .  To discover this little gem of a theatre you will need to find your way down a dark lane and up several flights of stairs.    The venue being very small   (120 to 140seats) brings the performance right into your lap whether you want it there or not.    The Tasmanian Theatre Co. should be congratulated for putting on this difficult play written by Stella Kent.    The play deals with the life of Lady Mary Montagu , a fabled beauty in 18th Century London, who as the British Ambassadors wife, discovers in Constantinople , while attending a "pox" party, a child could be inoculated from the disease by placing a small portion of puss into an open wound.
On returning to London she inoculates her own daughter by this method .  This action is met with hysterical reactions from both those in power and the public at large. 
The first half of the play moves between a farce and serious dialogue, while the second part brings it all together, sexism, racism and straight out bigotry all show their ugly face.    I particularly liked the way Guy Hopper handled the role of Colley Cibber in almost a Shakespearean dialogue, while Mel King as Lady Mary was outstanding.   The repartee between the two moved beautifully between humour , sarcasm and the serious.    Mary unfortunately had to wait until 1979 before being recognised as the person who introduced smallpox vaccination into Britain.