HOBSON'S CHOICE: Brighouse, Bham Rep till 30 March, tour till 22 June

Birmingham and Tour

HOBSON'S CHOICE: Harold Brighouse
Birmingham Rep: Tkts 0121 236 4455
Runs: 2h 30m, one interval. Runs at Bham Rep till Sat 30 March, tours till 22 June
Review: Rod Dungate, 8 March 2002

You leave the theatre with a warm glow: a Willie Mossop and Maggie Hobson whose scenes crackle and sparkleJonathan Church's production is a very humane affair. Each character in this much loved play from the 1880s is a fully rounded member of the human race: stereotypes (into which the play can easily fall) are given the boot and we leave the theatre with a warm glow.

The story itself tends towards the sentimental: Wilie Mossop, put-upon boot maker, marries the bullying boss' eldest daughter, tough and efficient Maggie Hobson – she keeps her father's business running smoothly. The marriage is a success, the couple win all the high-class boot trade and eventually buy up the old man's business. There is a genuine humanity in the play though and this production enhances it.

The old bully himself, Henry Hobson, is, in Tony Britton's performance, more bluster than bully. Hi is as if there is a good man inside him trying to struggle out. he is more clown than ogre and we can understand why eldest daughter, Maggie, smiles wryly (though never to his face) when he's in full flood. Britton's easy going performance keeps Hobson's feet firmly in the real world and the characterisation is balanced perfectly by Katharine Rogers's Maggie.

Katharine Rogers and Michael Begley are the stars of the production. A perfect pair. Maggie is tough and business-like but never a harridan. Other characters may be afraid of her, but that is because they are ineffectual themselves. She retains her femininity – we see it in small things, for instance, as she gently wipes Willie's cheek after he sisters have kissed their new brother-in-law-to-be. Begley's Willie is gentle, never stupid nor irritating: this is a man let down by (but not yet crushed by) the system. Maggie rescues him from the system and enables him to blossom, she does not mould him into something he is not. As he tries out his gradually growing confidence a huge grin takes over his face: it's instantly appealing. And there is a marvellous charge between the two actors that makes their scenes crackle and sparkle.

Cast:
Alice Hobson: Anna Northam
Vickey Hobson: Victoria Moseley
Maggie Hobson: Katharine Rogers
Albert Prosser: Andrew Fishwick
Henry Hobson: Tony Britton
Mrs Hepworth: Gaye Brown
Tubby Wadlow: Richard Kane
Willie Mossop: Michael Begley
Jim Heeler: Bill Bingham
Ada Figgins: Nicola Herring
Freddie Beenstock: Ben Casey
Dr McFarlane: Benny Young

Director: Jonathan Church
Design: Hayden Griffin
Lighting: Andy Phillips
Music: Matthew Scott

2002-03-10 13:58:45