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A fine and dandy racing romp
A moonlight tableau as things come to a head at St Marvell's Deanery . . . Dandy Dick The New Alexandra Theatre **** IT'S 125 years since Dandy Dick first
entered the theatrical paddock as a newcomer from the pen of Sir Arthur
Wing Pinero, not that you would know it.
Patricia Hodge stars as Georgina Tidman,
racehorse owner and trainer fallen on hard times and sister of the Dean
of St Marvells, the Very Rev Augustin Jedd, played with vague horror as
his well ordered world crumbles around him, by Nicholas Le Prevost. Gus, as his sister calls him, has two extravagant
daughters, Salome and Sheba, played with delightful charm by Florence
Andrews and Jennifer Rhodes, who are romantically involved with soldiers
Mr Darby, - a mere lieutenant - played by Charles de Bromhead – who
plays a mean violin incidentally - and Major Tarver , played by Peter
Sandys-Clarke, The daughters are plotting to sneak out to a fancy dress
ball when the dean has gone to bed. Their extravagance is an embarrassment after the
good dean pledges £1000 he does not have to restore the spire on his
beloved minster. The dean, with a past a little murkier than his
present, has warned his staff about the dangers of gambling and
forbidden them to attend the local race meeting. So with the arrival of his sister, who has a half
share in racehorse Dandy Dick, followed by both the horse and its other
half owner, and old Oxford chum, Sir Tristram Mardon, turning up after
their stables burn down, family life rapidly descends into chaos. Sir Tristram is played in a larger-than-life,
splendid what-ho, bon homie by Michael Cochrane.
Throw in the Dean medicating the horse against a
chill, the devious butler Blore, played with more ham than a Parma deli
by John Arthur, attempting to nobble Dandy Dick to give his own tip more
chance, and the local constable, Noah Topping, played ominously by Matt
Weyland aided by Sir Tristram's man Hatcham, Michael Onslow,
protecting the horse and arresting an interloper then all the elements
of farce are thrown in the pot to bubble away. Helping to confuse matters ever more is Rachel
Lumberg who is wonderful as the somewhat dim but wonderfully
enthusiastic Hannah Topping, new wife of the insanely jealous Noah and
former cook to the Dean. The sets, by Janet Bird, have a solid feel about
them aided by some excellent lighting from Paul Pyant while Christopher
Luscombe's direction keeps up a good pace with plenty of laughs and
refusing to allow any scene to drag. There are some modern touches, such as expressing
thoughts aloud to the audience end even talking directly to them and
although the subject matter and the social mores the plot relies on for
its effect are well past an age when an eyebrow might show even the
merest lift, there is still enough there to raise laughs particularly
from the down to earth, up and at ‘em Georgina and the wordy and
unwittingly witty dean. The production cleverly skirts over the moral
dilemmas and embarrassments on show to audiences of the 1880s, playing
it for laughs and it works. As an opener to return the splendid old Brighton theatre to creation rather than just a temporary home for visiting productions this is a decent start which deserves to be a commercial success. To 25-08-12 Roger Clarke And coming up on the outside . . . IT'S amazing how good old British humour
can withstand the passage of time, and this beautifully acted revival of
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's Victorian farce - written in 1887 - is yet
another example. Staged by Theatre Royal Brighton Productions
and featuring an anti-gambling clergyman and a racehorse called Dandy
Dick, it is a racing certainty to succeed. Why? Well, adapted and directed by
Christopher Luscombe, it is packed with really amusing characters who
immediately hit it off with the audience - even turning to address the
customers at times - and there's a bit of music thrown in, too. Set in the morning room of the Deanery at
St Marvells, the story focuses on the Very Rev Augustin Jedd's conflict
of interests when his horror of gambling comes into conflict with his
need to raise £1,000 for the church restoration fund. The action moves from a trot to a gallop
with the arrival of the Dean's sister, Georgiana, a horsey bundle of fun
cleverly played by Patricia Hodge who is half owner of the top
racehorse, and Nicholas Le Prevost gives a cracking performance as the
clergyman who lands a surplus of trouble. Terrific contributions, too, from Florence
Andrews and Jennifer Rhodes, the Very Reverend's so sweet daughters,
Salome and Sheba, John Arthur (Blore, the butler), Matt Weyland (the
aggressively jealous constable Noah Topping), Rachel Lumberg (his wife
Hannah), and Michael Cochrane (Sir Tristram Mardon). A Lovely piece in the play comes when the
daughters sing about their troubled father, spendidly accompanied on the
violin by Charles De Bromhead who plays Lt Darbey. Dandy Dick runs to 25.08.12 Paul Marston
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