By James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton

London's Foul Papers Theatre Company stages its inaugural production: the world-premiere of The Mandrake, a 350-year-old English translation and adaptation of Machiavelli's great satire, La Mandragola.

The Mandrake tells the story of a young man in 17th century London who pursues a seemingly impossible goal: seducing the irresistible but proper young wife of a foolish old lawyer. With the help of trusted friends - and allies as unlikely as the local parson and the girl's own mother - a plot is hatched to trick the hapless lawyer into enthusiastically thrusting the young man into his young wife's bed.

Director Luke Beattie is in the process of staging all ten of Compton's known plays, none of which have a modern production history before Beattie's work. Helping to bring The Mandrake to the Edinburgh Fringe is Foul Papers co-founder Sophie Hickman as Assistant Director, fresh from directing a critically acclaimed production of The Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda in London.

Foul Papers strives for a fusion of textual research and vital present-day performance energy to create productions that entertain today's audiences without sacrificing respect for the playwright's efforts.