Synopsis

It’s a historical play in that it covers the period when England’s Charles II was restored to power after his father, Charles I, had been tried, found guilty and beheaded. The play begins in 1661 with soldiers exhuming the corpse of John Bradshaw, the judge who ordered the King’s death. The new King has ordered that the body of Bradshaw be exhumed, hung in chains, beheaded and then displayed with his head on a spike.