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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Confusion reigns supreme
She stoops to conquerDudley Little TheatreNetherton Arts Centre**** OLIVER
Goldsmith’s classic 18th
century comedy is a witty farce with mistaken identities, mix-ups,
asides to the audience and a satire on manners and social mores of the
time, all laced with belly laughs rather than the polite amusement of
comedies prevalent in 1773 when it first appeared. In short it is a romp and by and large this
production succeeds in achieving that. The tale is simple. Mr Hardcastle is a country
gentleman who prefers the old traditional ways rather than the new
fangled manners of London some 60 miles away. He has a pretty daughter Kate, perhaps the only
normal character in the entire play, who he wishes to marry off to young
Charles Marlow, eligible son of an old friend, Sir Charles Marlow, a
young man who becomes timid and tongue tied in the company of upper
class women, only becoming himself among the low bred. Thus he only shows his feelings for Kate when he
thinks she is a serving wench. Meanwhile Mr Hardcastle’s wife Dorothy is aching
to go to Hardcastle’s hated London and tries at third and fourth hand
news from town to keep up with the latest fashion. Her son by a previous marriage is Tony Lumpkin, a
fat, ale-swilling country playboy-cum-bumpkin whose life consists of
practical jokes, The Three pigeons pub and Bette Bouncer, one of its
ladies of pleasure whose attributes, in Lumpkin’s telling, appear to
resemble arthritic hands
Marlow arrives with his friend George Hastings
who is in love with Mrs Hardcastle’s niece Constance Neville, who
Dorothy is determined will marry Lumpkin, despite the fact the pair hate
each other. As Marlow and Hastings arrive late at night and
lost, joker Lumpkin sends them off to Hardcastle Hall telling them it is
The Buck’s Head, the finest inn in the county. Let the confusion begin. Tony Stamp is a wonderful Hardcastle, a gentleman
comfortable in his standing and situation with few airs and graces. His
country accent is not only consistent but sounds authentic and his
performance is matched by Jean Potter as his wife Dorothy who, made up
white faced as she thinks might be the current way in town, shows all
the affectation of someone displaying the airs and manners of one
learning and interpreting the latest fashions through correspondence
and magazines. Jane Williams, as Kate, has that ability of 18th century women of class to almost glide across the stage and shows a nice distinction between her rather demure, refined self a Kate and the more rough and ready Kate the supposed barmaid. Ellis Daker’s Lumpkin is . . . well a
good-for-nothing lump, a character it is difficult to like, but who
raises a smile through his delinquent antics. He shows some nice touches
and glances to the audience. James Silvers gives us a Marlow who is a straight
man to the farce around him as he treats Hardcastle as an innkeeper and
is mortified when he knows the truth, goes into a confidence meltdown
with Kate and comes out of he shell when he thinks she is the barmaid. Constance is played be Claire Hetherington and
has a nice line in affectionately beating the living daylights out of
Lumpkin whenever she sees him. And then there is Phil Sheffield whose slightly
foppish, upper class Hastings was only part of his contribution as he is
the man responsible, along with Jenny Stanley, for the magnificent costu The discomfort of Marlow, played by James Silvers, in the company of upper class women, here in the shape of Kate, is palpable It was helped as well by a good yet simple set
which transformed easily between the Hardcastle’s house and The Three
Pigeons pub and back again with a particularly imaginative family
portraits to barrels arrangement. A similar arrangement on a larger
scale was used to represent the Hardcastle's garden – although closing
the rear stage curtains completely when creating an instant backdrop for
the garden might be an improvement. Andrew Rock, the director, kept things moving
along and where there were short breaks for set changes they were filled
by the army of supporting cast, the drunks, prostitutes, servants and
pub landlord who turned scene changes into a musical with songs of the
time – music for one incidentally written by Tony Stamp. It made what
could have been pace-killing pauses into delightful, colourful
interludes sung with commendable gusto. As a play it is a challenge for any actor. The
speeches are often long and in a language which might have been the
common parlance in drawing rooms of the 1770s but is quaint, archaic,
unnatural and the devil’s own job to learn 250 years on. And that perhaps was where the first night
faltered at times with too many prompts required and a little too much
fumbling for words. When it was good it was very good but pace and flow
inevitably suffered with each halting moment lengthening an already
substantial play. It was a performance which showed an awful lot of
work has gone in from the cast of 14 and with first night now behind
them, Mary O’Toole, the excellent prompt, should be able to look forward
to a quieter life in the wings for the rest of the run. And that, in
turn, will mean an increase in the pace which will help give this comedy
classic its natural rhythm. On opening night it was almost there, and was certainly close enough to predict its teething troubles will be ironed out over the rest of the run. Roger Clarke13-05-15 |
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mes
which gave the whole play a look of authenticity. Every character from
leads to the scene shifting, singing prostitutes looked the part; a
valuable feature which gives any play a flying start.