The King of Hell’s Palace
Hampstead Theatre, London

When recently reviewing here The Secret River, an account of the tragedy of the white Australian land grab from the native peoples, I raised the fear that, in times of loudly declarative sensitivity, there is a risk of commissioners putting good intentions ahead of good theatre.

No decent viewer could disagree with the racial and historical position of that National Theatre adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel, but the characters were either consistently admirable or despicable, with none of the challenging human nuance that both goodies and baddies have in plays by Henrik Ibsen or Arthur Miller.

Similar issues arise with The King of Hell’s Palace, a UK world premiere for a play by American-Taiwanese dramatist, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig.