Deep into the show, a piece of sweet, wistful recorded music begins, a signal that, even in the world of The Bonds of Interest, tenderness and grace may have a foothold.

That’s reassuring — at least a little bit. Because everywhere else in Jacinto Benavente’s 1907 comic play, here newly translated by Catherine Boyle and Laurie Steven, duplicity, cynicism, greed and violence call the shots. Whether that flicker of musical hope — we learn that it’s a song called The Kingdom of Souls, suggesting a community of like-minded goodness — stands a chance of surviving, let alone triumphing, remains an open question.

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