EASTWARD HO! In rep to 19 March

London

EASTWARD HO!
by Ben Jonson John Marston and George Chapman

RSC at Gielgud Theatre In rep to 19 March 2003
Runs 3hr One interval

TICKETS 0870 890 1105
Review Vera Lustig 6 February

Finely-judged revival of this comedy of greed, intrigue and cuckoldry.The price of theatre-going just got higher. Do see this classy satirical romp, with its Jonsonian rogues' gallery of swindlers, chancers, social climbers, wily servants and grasping, pathologically jealous husbands. Go, too, for its richly textured performances, its ensemble work and for its moments of unforced exuberance. Go for a visual treat.

But if you sit anywhere behind the front black of stalls seats, grab a pair of those red plastic opera glasses. Lucy Pitman-Wallace's production abounds in sly visual jokes, which enliven the talky, plot-laying opening scenes.

Many of these touches are, unfortunately, visible only by the eagle-eyed or privileged. They will notice, for example, that Quicksilver, the rascally apprentice (Billy Carter, razor-sharp) is handed a P45 on his dismissal, while Golding, the virtuous one (James Tucker, engagingly needy), when promoted to Deputy Alderman sports an enamelled London Underground logo on a chain.

Available to all, though, is the late-autumn sumptuousness of Robert Jones's costume designs: the subtly toning reds and greens, the muted gold and silver of the apprentices' costumes, the ochre and terra cotta. A pleasurable melancholy softens this bustling Jacobean London of street vendors, chiming clocks and ships passing on the Thames (another indistinct image, that).

This wistfulness permeates Geoffrey Freshwater's performances as a solid burgher, employer of the contrasting apprentices and father of docile Mildred and skittish Gertrude. Freshwater moves from gently sardonic amusement to towering pain in a characteristically selfless performances, well-matched by a statuesque Claire Benedict as his preening wife.

Amanda Drew as Gertrude, every inch her mother's daughter, gives a virtuosic display of tremendous verve and wit, as a colt aspiring to become a thoroughbred. This rouged hoyden has unquenchable optimism and a husky Estuary voice of amazing power and range. This comedian will captivate even those marginalised punters peering down from the gods.

Wiliam Touchstone: Geoffrey Freshwater
Mistress Touchstone: Claire Benedoict
Gertrude: Amanda Drew
Mildred: Shelley Conn
Golding: James Tucker
Francis Quicksilver: Billy Carter
Sindefy: Sashar Behar
Sir Petronel Flash: Michael Matus
His Page/Slitgut/Hamlet: Avin Shah
Security: Paul Bentall
Winifred: Sian Howard
Bramble: Colin McCormack
Seagull/Mistress Fond: David Acton
Scapethrift/Potkin/;Gentleman: Vincent Brimble
Spendall/Holdfast/Mistress Gazer: Keith Osborn
Wolf/Poldavy/Coachman: Joshua Richards
Scrivenre/Drawer: Wayne Cater
Gentleman/Constable: Sean Hannaway

Director: Lucy Pitman-Wallace
Designer: Robert Jones
Lighting: Wayne Dowdeswell
Sound: Martin Slavin
Music: Mick Sands
Movement: Sue Lefton
Fights: Terry King
Dialect coach: Jeannette Nelson
Company voice work: Andrew Wade and Jeannette Nelson

2003-02-17 18:32:15