SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, A LAUGHING MATTER, Out of Joint Touring till 19 April
Out of Joint
A LAUGHING MATTER: April de Angelis
Runs: 2h 45m, one interval
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER: Oliver Goldsmith
Runs: 2h 45m
Tours till 19 April, Info www.outofjoint.co.uk
Review: Rod Dungate, Birmingham Rep, 14 November 2002
A very funny new play from de Angelis sparkling debate but a bit out of focus: Goldsmith's play offers some fascinating revelations but could do with lightening up a bit. A great pair nevertheless.
You don't have to see the two plays but it's a shame not to. SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, a much loved (by repute) English classic comedy and A LAUGHING MATTER a new (and very funny) play discussing the nature of comedy, theatre and how Goldsmith eventually got his play produced but not by Garrick.
The great joy of de Angelis's play is that she presents us with a wonderful range of larger than life characters and a very lively debate. The debate's not too surprising since one of the main characters is Goldsmith's friend, Samuel Johnson. In a witty theatrical acknowledgment of The Dictionary, scenes frequently begin with a definition, framing and focussing the action. As often as not these are offered us by Ian Redford's large, loud, rude and entirely funny Johnson: what a wonderful double Redford pulls off too as Goldsmith's dotty, playwriting competition, Reverend Cumberland.
According to de Angelis's play Garrick is to mount CONQUER but is blackmailed into not doing so by pure schoolteacher Hannah Moore. Jason Watkins, as Garrick, pulls of several feats. He shows us a Garrick full of his own self-importance but lets us see too how his passion for developing theatre drives him. We tend to think of that period of actors 'over-acting' forgetting the settings and contexts within which they were working: Watkins shows us that the style, within its context, worked. In a marvellous coup he appears as a barber to his friends who don't realise it's him and more importantly, nor do we!
Discussing as she is the nature of English comedy (Conquer was considered low and immoral), de Angelis's play fittingly turns into farce in the second half. She plots it amazingly well though the frenzy might be increased with a little more lightness of touch. I have a reservation about the play as a whole though, for all it's intelligence and shining debate it lacks sufficient focus. Is it a play about Goldsmith? Or about Garrick who didn't achieve something and didn't seem to mind too much though he might have minded a bit? Or a play about comedy or theatre in general? I don't know and I should be able to tell. Having said this, I do know it's great while it lasts.
Lightness of touch is lacking in SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER too. Max Stafford-Clark reveals some interesting areas of the play he presents credible characters rather than stock comedic ones but he appears to have taken his eye of the ball that the play is supposed to be funny. Oases of gentle titters and smiles are the order of the day with long arid deserts in between.
The greatest revelation of the production is Owen Sharpe's young country squire Tony Lumpkin. Far from being an oaf, this Lumpkin is a likeable lad if rather wayward. He's merely bad because he doesn't fit in with his expected behaviour the acquired social fripperies the play satirises. Frankly I'd much rather spend an evening down the pub with him than with the opinionated and rude Marlow and Hastings. Owen gives a mesmerising performance whether he's the centre of the action or waiting, arms folded, like a naughty child waiting to be laid into by his mother who's caught him being really bad. Nowhere could his accusation to Hastings that Hastings is two-faced strike a truer note. Combine his Lumpkin with his Goldsmith in the other play and you see a fine young actor with a great deal of talent: 200 percent commitment to his role, energy, honesty and comedy.
CONQUER strains your belief but Monica Dolan as Kate Hardcastle in role as barmaid with Christopher Staines as Marlow in confident mode, produce some genuine and welcome comedy from their exchanges I suspect we particularly like them because SHE clearly gets the better of HIM. And quite right too.
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER
Sir Charles Marlow: Nigel Cooke
Young Charles Marlow: Christopher Staines
Mr Hardcastle: Ian Redford
George Hastings: Stephen Beresford
Tony Lumpkin: Owen Sharpe
Landlord/ Jeremy: Matthew Sim
Diggory: Jason Watkins
Mrs Hardcastle: Jane Wood
Kate Hardcastle: Monica Dolan
Constance Neville: Fritha Goodey
Pimple: Bella Merlin
A LAUGHING MATTER
Edmund Burke/ Sam Cautherley/ Mr Cross: Stephen Beresford
Charles Macklin/ Joshua Reynolds: Nigel Cooke
Peg Woffington/ Hannah Moore: Monica Dolan
Mrs Garrick/ Mrs Barry: Fritha Goodey
Samuel Johnson/ Rev Cumberland/ Betty Flint: Ian Redford
Oliver Goldsmith/ Theophilus O'Ryan: Owen Sharpe
Cedric Bounce/ Mr Larpent: Matthew Sim
James Boswell/ Mr Barry/ Duke of Kingston: Christopher Staines
David Garrick: Jason Watkins
Lady Kingston/ Mrs Butler: Jane Wood
Director Max Stafford-Clark
Designer: Julian McGowan
Lighting: Johanna Town
Music: Paddy Cunneen
Sound: Neil Alexander
Choreographer: Wendy Allnutt
2002-11-15 14:02:58