Code of the West by Mark Giesser at Tabard Theatre

Alces Productions presents Code of the West, a comedy by Mark Giesser, at the Tabard Theatre, an 80-seat fringe venue in Chiswick, west London, from 16 Oct to 9 Nov 2013.

Cast includes David Janson (Emperor Norton), Zoe Teverson (Claire Greenleaf), Lucinda Forth (Violet Allerton), William Findley (T. Preston Booth), Stephen Cavanagh (Frank Tremont).

Designed by Christopher Hone, lighting by Seth Rook Williams, costumes by Giulia Scrimieri.

Manipulative media, bankers behaving badly, and plans for a royal wedding ... welcome to Victorian San Francisco. In this strangely familiar world, an eccentric Englishman rules as Norton the First, Emperor of the United States. At least he thinks he does. And his new dynasty needs an heir. So when a Russian Countess and her English secretary suddenly arrive and announce that they are ready to talk marriage, it could be time for the wedding of the century. That's if the Emperor's official imperial bank doesn't collapse, or his official imperial newspaper doesn't cause a diplomatic incident. Or he doesn't get sent to prison.