by Royce Ryton

15 - 24 March 2007

This play dramatizes the Victorian scandal of 1890 in which Sir William Gordon Cumming, a baronet and personal friend of the Prince of Wales, was accused by his mistress’s husband of cheating at the card game, baccarat. Act 1 shows the alleged crime and Act 2 a re-enactment of the court case. The story is told in flashbacks framed by Cumming’s later description of events to his daughter. Whether he truly cheated, or was falsely accused by a jealous husband, is the mystery at the heart of this intriguing tale of honour and revenge.