THE MALCONTENT. In rep to 25 January

RSC

THE MALCONTENT
by John Marston

RSC at Gielgud Theatre, London In rep to 25 January 2003 season extended to 25 March
Runs 2hr 15min One interval

TICKETS 0870 890 1105
Review Timothy Ramsden 31 December

A vivid comic production full of sound, sin and moral fury.Antony Sher's an actor you have to take on his own terms. He's first seen here as a shadow, blowing a raspberry on his trumpet, in Jimmy Porter-like rage at the smooth smart-set and trendies socialising in Duke Pietro's Latino court. Before long his unkempt, greasy-haired figure is bobbing through the party with a mix of mock-politeness and burning fury.

But the equally fine performance, play and production have more intricate corners hiding away. With a whipping-off of wig and shades, the malcontent reveals his real self: usurped Duke Altofronto - a less bookish, more vengeful Prospero, intent on recovering his wife and dukedom. Revealed only to Paul Bhattacharjee's loyal friend, Sher displays a more physically subdued self, moral indignation lowering the voice from its bitter scattergun contempt.

Sher's the star in the show; perhaps star of the show is the deep-dyed villain; not Colin McCormack's usurping –and surprisingly jovial - Duke but the plotter who seeks to overthrow him, Joe Dixon's Mendoza. Sucking, licking and biting a chain of huge Havana cigars with a relish for power more even than sex, Dixon's Mendoza is a magnificent creation.

Like the late Michael Bryant years ago in Congreve's Double Dealer at the Olivier, Dixon understands how a sustained speech can be more effective, not as a word-torrent, but the deliberate expression of a mind snaking through its own ideas maze. He shapes Mendoza's early misogynistic tirade (a 17th century Howard Barker moment), making its gradual crescendo more menacing as you sense the thought developing behind the words.

Dominic Cooke shows how this plausible plotter skews the state. Uniforms turn from comfortable white to sinister dark green as he takes command; soldiers parade in goose-steps with fascistic salutes.

It's a male dominated-world, where women smile and fondle to order – except Anna Madeley's deposed duchess, who Marston saves till near the end. Her fraught face and plain dress contrast the other women, all too evidently creatures of Claire Benedict's bawd Maquerelle, soft-voiced complacency smiling under a forest of Afro-style hair. Just one facial twist of annoyance, when she's finally sent to what's hell for such a court creature: the suburbs.

For the play ends astonishingly gore-free, all punished while keeping their skin in a surprising, softly-starlit happy end. As fine a black comic approach as we're likely to come across to the play.

Bilioso: Geoffrey Freshwater
Prepasso: James Tucker
Pietro: Colin McCormack
Ferrardo: Michael Matus
Giovanni Altofronto (Malevole): Antony Sher
Celso: Paul Bhattacharjee
Mendoza: Joe Dixon
Aurelia: Amanda Drew
Ferneze: Billy Carter
Maquerelle: Claire Benedict
Bianca: Sasha Behar
Emilia: Caroline Faber
Page/Courtier/Mercury: Ben Hicks
Guerrino: Michael Thomas
Captain: Paul Bentall
Maria: Anna Madeley
Courtier: Avin Shah

Director: Dominic Cooke
Designer: Robert Innes Hopkins
Lighting: Wayne Dowdeswell
Sound: Martin Slavin
Music: Gary Yershon
Music director: Tony McVey
Movement: Liz Ranken
Fight director: Terry King
Dialect coach: Jeannette Nelson
Company voice work: Andrew Wade, Jeannette Nelson

2003-01-01 13:55:14