EDUCATING AGNES.

Tour.

EDUCATING AGNES
by Liz Lochhead from The School for Wives by Moliere.

Theatre Babel Tour (no date available).
Runs 2hr One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden at Oxford Playhouse.

Witty translation with some matching performances.
Liz Lochhead, once again, has her flavourful way with Moliere, producing a witty, modern translation with Scottish rhythms (if few Scots words that might frighten off an English audience). This is a zestful, comic yet pointed script that gives scope to the comedy of The School for Wives – a kind of kinder Country Wife. The wit begins with the title’s echoing of Willy Russell’s Educating Rita.

In trying to keep his young wife unaware of city sophistication, Arnolphe makes a fool of himself, including with friends of his own age who would otherwise respect him. He seems the cunning one, a name-change allowing him to become adviser to, and repeatedly to outwit, the young man who is trying to steal Agnes from him.

It’s intriguing, in an age when many classics are given a modern setting, to find Lochhead’s modern language: (wives) “playing away from home”, “they’d a two-for-one on sausages”, receiving a premier in 18th-century set and costume. Still, director Graham McLaren’s never been one for taking trends for granted.

Though it opened at Glasgow’s Citizens’ Theatre, comparable in size to Oxford Playhouse, the production seems ideally suited for smaller theatres, not set behind a formal proscenium-arch picture-frame. The wall backing the action throughout, with its doors and window through which trouble pours, makes for a small acting-space.

There’s little dynamic in the use of the stage, making the production a series of verbal comic set-pieces. Things aren’t helped by Kevin McMonagle’s surprising refusal to point comic moments either verbally or visually. He’s a good actor so points are made, but often somewhat blurred rather than in clear focus.

John Kielty provides an energetic Horace, a keen and innocent young lover who is amazed at finding himself betrayed by an old family friend. Maureen Carrr’s loquacious Georgette and Lewis Howden’s lumberingly simple Alaine ensure the comic servants are truly comic.

Best of all is Annieka Rose as the wife who learns love’s ways. Her Agnes may be unused to devious ways and unaware of the complexities behind simply stating the truth, but she’s no fool; it’s a splendid performance

Arnolphe: Kevin McMonagle.
Agnes: Annieka Rose.
Horace: John Kielty.
Chrysalde: Sean Scanlan.
Alain/Orante: Lewis Howden.
Georgette: Maureen Carr.

Director: Graham McLaren.
Designers: Graham McLaren, Robin Peoples.
Lighting: Kai Fischer.

2008-05-18 13:50:29