THE VENETIAN TWINS. To 10 July.
Newbury
THE VENETIAN TWINS
by Carlo Goldoni adapted by Ranjit Bolt
Watermill Theatre West Berkshire Playhouse To 10 July 2004
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Thu & Sat 2.30pm except 10 July 1.30pm & 6.30pm
Runs 2hr 15min One interval
TICKETS: 01635 46044
Review: Stewart McGill
Jonathan Munby's fizzing 1950's treatment is a joy from start to finish.Alongside his play The Servant of Two Masters, Goldoni's 18th century Italian farce of mistaken identity is one of the greatest comedies ever conceived and only rarely given an outing. Director Jonathan Munby uses Ranjit Bolt's contemporary adaptation which really pays off as the language bubbles its way from start to finish in just over two hours of effervescent delight.
Munby's ensemble came to Goldoni immediately following their successful reworking of Lope de Vega's The Gentleman from Olmedo at the Watermill. With that experience behind them the company are very strong in all roles playing together as a superb unit. Alongside Propeller and the Music Theatre, two ensembles that have developed their own identities at the Watermill, there seems to be the real opportunity for a third company and this troupe deliver a strong calling card.
Jonathan Munby sets the action in a high-society Italy of the 1950's where flashbulbs announce the arrival of the rich family and the get rich quick suitors. The work will always stand or fall by the playing of the twins, Zanetto and Tonino, one a bumpkin, the other a gentleman. Here Michael Matus gives a quick change tour de force (alongside alter ego Calum A Smithe!) that dazzles in its execution.
The cast surround him with a series of gorgeous portraits; I relished Daniel Coonan's ridiculous Lelio and Jonathan Oliver's dark and demonic Pancrazio. It's great ensemble playing throughout and at two and a quarter hours a perfect entertainment for a summer evening.
The play has a darker side revealed in the closing moments and I am not sure that Jonathan Munby gave full weight to the clouds on the horizon to balance the farcical goings on. Some of the issues in the play become absorbed in a clownesque production that, perhaps, should have been pointed up yet the overall effect is one of sheer exuberance and genuine laughter from start to finish.
Great news therefore that Arts Council England have given the theatre a touring franchise which will see both Pinafore Swing and Propeller's The Winter's Tale undertake major tours. For now catch The Venetian Twins and celebrate a fabulous piece of ensemble theatre.
Rosaura: Catherine Cusack
Columbina: Patricia Gannon
Dr Balanzoni/The Constable: Stephen Ley
Brighella/Simonetta: Maggie Shelvin
Zanetto: Calum A Smithe
Pancrazio: Jonathan Oliver
Beatrice: Marianne Oldham
Florindo: Nick Barber
Lelio: Daniel Coonan
Tonino: Michael Matus
Arlecchino: Drew Mulligan
Director: Jonathan Munby
Designer: Mike Britton
Lighting: Oliver Fenwick
Composer: Dominic Haslam
Choreographer: Katherine Taylor
Fight director: Alison de Burgh
2004-06-08 17:07:39