DON GIL OF THE GREEN BREECHES Arcola Theatre, London E8

Three plays of the Spanish Golden Age of Theatre (roughly 1590-1681) have been newly translated and are being presented in repertoire by Bath’s Theatre Royal and Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre. The Golden Age included such theatrical giants as Lope de Vega and Tirso de Molina. The company’s London season opens with a comedy by Tirso (1579-1648) who claimed he had written over 300 plays, 80 of which survive. In this broad farce, written in 1615, the heroine, Dona Juana, is deserted by her lover, Don Martin, who intends to marry the rich Dona Ines. Juana disguises herself as a man, assumes the name of Don Gil, the name Martin is using to court Ines, and determines to woo and seduce Ines. The comedy is rarely as funny as its reputation, even when four suitors arrive, all disguised in green breeches. Hopefully, the two plays by Lope de Vega, which follow, will prove to be more rewarding.