MARRYING THE MISTRESS. To 6 May.
Tour
MARRYING THE MISTRESS
by Joanna Trollope adapted by David Taylor
Tour to 6 May
Runs 2hr 25min One interval
Review: Hazel Brown 20 February at Lighthouse Poole
Eternal triangle given an interesting twist, but they should have lost the Aga.
This is an interesting take on the eternal triangle, but knowing how Joanna Trollope hates the term ‘aga saga’, why did the designer set one in the corner of what is actually a novel view of the fallout from an affair? In fact, the busy set, which has ‘garage’ doors on either side that open and close for new bits of set to slide in and out, lets down an interesting story and some good performances. This is theatre; disbelief can be suspended, sets do not have to be so realistic and they certainly don’t have to whoosh in and out trying to recreate changing scenes that can be done better on film or television.
That large quibble aside, the plot revolves around Guy, a judge in his sixties, who leaves his wife of thirty-one years, Laura, for a younger woman, Merrion, who has been his mistress for seven years. The fallout from this affects the two grown-up sons, the dutiful Simon, the black-sheep (gay) Alan and, most of all, Laura, Simon’s wife. On the periphery of the kerfuffle are Gwen, Merrion’s mother and Mat, Simon and Laura’s teenage son.
Ostensibly, you would expect Guy to be the villain of the piece, but it turns out to be Laura, whose aggressive passivity and refusal to accept the reality of the break-down of her marriage almost ruins Simon’s and Laura’s marriage. Caroline Langrishe gives a well-modulated performance as Laura, becoming increasingly more infuriated as her husband is dragged back into his mother’s overemotional clutches. The production is worth seeing for Langrishe’s performance alone.
Adrian Lukis is totally believable as the favourite son who refuses to recognize that his mother is controlling and manipulative. Jeremy Clyde is suave and expressive as the older man who thinks he is finding freedom at last. Elizabeth Healey’s character has obviously got comfortable with being a mistress and is stunned, rather than delighted, when her lover makes his move.
Just a bit more belief in the theatre as a medium in its own right would have raised this production from the mundane.
Guy: Jeremy Clyde
Merrion: Elizabeth Healey
Simon: Adrian Lukis
Laura: Polly Adams
Gwen: Jacqueline Clarke
Alan: Robert Fitch
Carrie: Caroline Langrishe
Jack: Mat Ruttle
Director: David Taylor
Designer: Simon Higlett
Lighting: Jack Thompson
Sound: Clement Rawling, Paul Delaney
2006-04-02 10:55:56