SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER till 17 November.
Birmingham.
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER
by Oliver Goldsmit.(with a new prologue and epilogue by Bryony Lavery.
Birmingham Rep (with the Touring Consortium).
Tickets: 0121 236 4455.
Runs: 2hr 50min one interval, till 17 November.
Review: Rod Dungate 30 October 2007.
Some excellent performances can’t rescue the production.
It’s hard work watching this production and it shouldn’t be. There are some excellent performances (particularly from Colin Baker and Liza Goddard – Mr and Mrs Hardcastle) but their comedic skills cannot make up for director Jonathan Munby’s frenetic, relentless pace.
Munby treats the play like a farce which might be OK but never allows the play to breathe; for the most part actors rush around nineteen to the dozen, overacting and hurling meaningless lines at each other. It’s really quite exhausting. There are moments of repose – Kate Hardcastle’s song in the second half for instance – but they’re too little and often too late.
Colin Baker and Liza Goddard make an excellent married couple. Baker gives Mr Hardcastle an infectious charm so that whatever he does or says you feel warm inside. Liza Goddard creates a delightfully funny Mrs Hardcastle; despite the heightened characterisation there’s an ease underpinning it which enables us to perceive it as real. She employs her entire being in creating the comedy.
Jonathan Broadbent has all the makings of a charming Tony Lumpkin. This Tony Lumpkin is clearly a good-natured bloke, just much misunderstood. He’s pushing too hard at the moment; if he relaxes as the show matures he’ll become funnier and even more likeable.
Great set from Mike Britton; simple, it encompasses the play with ease. But the production as a whole sacrifices sense for swagger and meaning for mania – it feels very old-fashioned.
Mr Hardcastle: Colin Baker.
Pimple: Lynsey Beauchamp.
Servant / Musician: Elisa Boyd.
Tony Lumpkin: Jonathan Broadbent.
Roger: Thomas Brownlee.
George Hastings: Matthew Burgess.
Thomas / Jeremy / Musician: Aidan Clooke.
Charles Marlow: Matthew Douglas.
Mrs Hardcastle: Liza Goddard.
Constance Neville: Annie Hemingway.
Musician: Leon Hunt.
Diggory: Tom Jude.
Kate Hardcastle: Dorothea Myer-Bennett.
Sir Charles Marlow / Stingo: Glynn Sweet.
Director: Jonathan Munby.
Designer: Mike Britton.
Lighting: Oliver Fenwick.
Sound: Dan Hoole.
Composer/Musical Director: Olly Fox.
Choreographer: Katherine Taylor.
Dialect coach: Jan Haydn Rowles.
Associate director: Neale Birch.
2007-10-31 20:23:39