Edinburgh Fringe 2025
How to Win Against History
Francesca Moody Productions and Bristol Old Vic with Underbelly
Genre: Musical Theatre
Venue: Udderbelly at Underbelly, George Square
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
“How to Win Against History” is a joyous and hilarious romp through the story of Henry Paget, the aristocratic bad boy of his age. The fifth Marquess of Anglesey, he was notorious in the late 1800s for squandering his inheritance on a lavish social life and accumulating enormous debts.
Review
‘It’s a pity he spent all the money’
“How to Win Against History” is a joyous and hilarious romp through the story of Henry Paget, the aristocratic bad boy of his age. The fifth Marquess of Anglesey, he was notorious in the late 1800s for squandering his inheritance on a lavish social life and accumulating enormous debts. This show takes the audience through Paget’s life in an over-the-top production filled with stunning costumes, fabulous actors, great musicians, and a truly brilliant script. Original songs and script by Seiriol Davies, who plays the role of Henry Paget, tell the story.
Henry Cyril Paget was born in Paris on June 16, 1875 to Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, (later 4th Marquis of Anglesey), and his wife, Blanche Mary Curwen Boyd. Paget never knew his mother as she died when he was just two years old. He was sent to live with French actor Benoît-Constant Coquelin, who was possibly his biological father. Paget was close to Coquelin’s sister, who regarded as an aunt.
When Henry was eight, Paget’s father married for the third time, this time to a wealthy American. Paget left Paris and was taken to live at Plas Newydd. He was quite isolated there in north Wales. He was educated at Eton, where he developed an attitude of superiority, as portrayed in the show with the song “Boots, Boots, Boots”. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He inherited his title and estate of approximately 30,000 acres across Staffordshire, Dorset, Anglesey and Derbyshire in 1898. And then he began to spend.
At age 23, Paget married his first cousin, Lilian Florence Maud Chetwynd, daughter of Sir George Chetwynd. By then Paget was the Earl of Uxbridge. He sings about that life with “This Is What It Looks Like to Be Real”. The marriage did not go well. It is said that he mistreated Lilian and that she left after only six weeks, although he tried to please her with gifts, including buying her a shop.
Then his father died, portrayed in an hilarious death scene in the play. Paget inherited a fortune, and decided to use it to change lives through art. He hired star actor Alexander Keith to put on a play. The story of Keith’s career is described in a song that has shades of the musical “Hamilton”. Paget built a theatre, which he called Gaiety Theatre, on the site of the family chapel and mounted costly productions of plays by Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare, which were poorly attended.
And Paget kept spending. He bought jewelry and furs with his generous income, equal to about £15 million today. He amassed a stunning wardrobe that included Charvet dressing gowns, diamond frocks, lilac-dyed poodles and jewels. He threw big parties and renamed the family home to Anglesey Castle. With accumulated debts of the equivalent of £70 million in in today’s money, his extravagance put him into bankruptcy in 1904. He sings a heartfelt ballad “Is it in Vain” to examine his lifestyle.
Paget was very private but did give one interview to the Daily Mail in 1904. “I must apologise for not appearing before you in peacock-blue plush wearing a diamond and sapphire tiara, a turquoise dog-collar, ropes of pearls and slippers studded with Burma rubies; but I prefer, and always have preferred, Scotch tweed.”
Paget died in Monte Carlo in 1905, with his ex-wife by his side. The title passed to Paget’s cousin, Charles Henry Alexander Paget, who reverted the Gaiety Theatre to the family chapel. Plas Newydd is now a National Trust home open to the public.
Paget was a one-of-a-kind larger than life character. He was a cross dresser, unusual for the times. This production builds on that with completely outrageous, gorgeous and over the top costuming. From sequined gowns to sparkling headdresses, Seiriol Davies as Paget swishes across the stage with bravado. He is sharp-witted as he delivers lines from pathos to eccentricity. He combines physical theatre with spoken comedy to brilliantly recreate this outlandish character. Matthew Blake as the constant companion Alexander Keith is ornately costumed and funny. Musical Director Dylan Townley, in period garb, is not only a fantastic pianist and conductor but also is very funny. All four members of the versatile band are part of the drama and the comic scenes. They are excellent musicians and singers. The staging fits the theme – garish. There is a three-level lit circular piece in the middle and lights around the backdrop. Director Lisa Spirling pulls every emotion, every nuance, every sparkling moment into action that just never stops and is very effective.
How to Win Against History is an overall fantastic experience with outrageous historical characters portrayed brilliantly by a convincing cast and an hilarious script. This is the history class you never took but would have thoroughly enjoyed in middle school. This is your chance to immerse yourself in an uproarious, flamboyant, flashy, lavish, and grandiose production about a little-known historical character that now you will never forget.
