HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★★
“an hour-and-a-half whirlwind of a spectacle”
Henry Cyril Paget, the 5th Marquess of Anglesey, converted his family’s ancient chapel into a theatre and quickly squandered his entire family fortune, only to die at the age of 29. His kin then attempted to erase him from the historical record by burning all his letters, after which one historian summarised his life as ‘in vain’. ‘How to Win Against History’ (ably directed by Lisa Spirling) takes the audience on a romp through Paget’s short life in the late 1800s: witty, ridiculous, upbeat, and fabulous, you quickly forget just how sad the premise is.
Seiriol Davies (who also wrote the book. music and lyrics for the show), dressed in increasingly outrageous glittery dresses (designed by Ryan Dawson Laight), plays the Marquess with complete conviction. Hayley Grindle’s exquisite set adds to the spectacle and is further enhanced by Robbie Butler’s glorious lighting. This is not an uncomplicated celebration of Paget: taught ‘dressage, oppression, oppressage’ at the ‘Eton School for Posh Boys’, the musical acknowledges that Paget’s extravagance is paired with little concern for the less fortunate or even the people around him. In Davies’ depiction, Paget’s naivety and ignorance become endearingly otherworldly, though his stylised performance leaves the ‘real’ Paget feeling elusive. To me, Matthew Blake steals the show, playing an impressive variety of characters, from Paget’s bisexual wife Lillian to an unforgiving Eton schoolmaster and a Daily Mail journalist a.k.a the Devil himself. While none of these characters are fleshed out in the script, Blake’s performance makes them instantly entertaining.
Davies and Blake are not the only actors on stage: the five-head band (musical director Dylan Townley) is perfectly choreographed and clearly engaged in the story, whether they are playing or not. Their instrumentals are sleek and upbeat, and their unfailing energy carries the show. Not all the songs in the show are memorable but ‘Mainstream Entertainment’ was an instant hit with the audience and is still stuck in my head the next day.
The show tells Paget’s life story in a clear-cut chronological order, though we are given a summary of what happens to him in the opening song. This rendered the story’s trajectory rather predictable, and leaving just a little bit more to the audience to discover themselves would have easily remedied this.
Viewers should not expect a careful examination of late Victorian England or a close look at the ‘real’ Marquess. Instead, strap in for an hour-and-a-half whirlwind of a spectacle, almost as over-the-top as Henry Cyril Paget himself.
HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewed on 14th AUgust 2025 at Udderbelly at Underbelly, George Square
by Lola Stakenburg
Photography by Pamela Raith
