DCMetroCenterArts has published a good review of “Philosophus”!
The critic, Jennifer Georgia, dub deep, researching Voltaire a bit and appreciating the historical authenticity of the story:
“One of the remarkable things about Crowley’s play is how much of the farce is true. In 1753, Voltaire was journeying back to France (if he was fleeing persecution, it was a very slow flight) from the court of his former patron Frederick the Great of Prussia. He arrived in Frankfurt and was detained by Frederick’s agents, who were under orders to retrieve a document the king had given to Voltaire. His niece Marie arrived and was held with him, and had to fend off the unwanted advances of a guard. She and Voltaire were finally released after his luggage was ransacked and the offending item found.
In Philosophus this incident provides the fodder for High Farce. It supplies stock characters as old as the Commedia dell’Arte or even the Roman comic Plautus: the Cunning Thinker, the Stupid Servant, the Pompous Officer, the Lusty Soldier, the Buxom Maid, and the Greedy Harridan. These are all set upon each other in the broadest kind of comedy. It has chase scenes, mistaken identities, lost luggage, an overbearing old woman, an ogle-worthy young one, and duels with both wits and pistols. For those familiar with British comedy, it resembles Benny Hill meets the Enlightenment, or Carry On Philosopher.”
…
“Philosophus is a rib-tickling farce… Overall, it is a very entertaining evening at the theater.”