|
Mr. Hart's Theatrical Company presents
Love's Last Shift
By Colley Cibber Esq.
Directed by Matthew Butler and Dominic Rouse
White Bear Theatre
24 March – 19 April 2009
A review by Colette Gunn-Graffy for EXTRA! EXTRA! There is nothing wrong with theatrical revivals. Indeed, many people love them, live for them, spend their free time – when not attending the theatre – reading great big literary guides to British drama and attending lectures that passionately dissect the bawdy double meanings of turns of phrase which, over the last few centuries, have (sadly) passed out of common usage. But even these people I am sure would agree that, more than contemporary plays, if theatrical revivals are to be done, they must be done well; else, the audience must fidget through two-plus hours of banter it only half-understands and certainly does not fully appreciate. Despite having been written over three hundred years ago, there is much about Colley Cibber’s Restoration comedy Love’s Last Shift or The Fool in Fashion that could resonate with today’s audience. Not only does it debate the institution of marriage – asking whether it is possible for a man to maintain his desire for his wife within marriage, and in turn, what interest a woman would have in marriage if it encouraged her husband to stray – it mocks the hypocrisy of a society that insists on marriage as a badge of virtue and respectability. Unfortunately, this latest production by Mr Hart’s Theatrical Company delivers neither the humour nor the sting that Cibber’s script demands, and though the actors’ pacing is quick (perhaps too much so), at two hours, twenty minutes, the play still feels overlong. In Love’s Last Shift, money, more than love, more than desire, is the great motivating factor in characters forming romantic attachments. The play follows Loveless, a rogue, whose love for women and drink led him to desert his virtuous wife Amanda ten years ago. Having squandered his fortune in the pursuit of hedonism and believing his wife dead, Loveless returns to London with his sardonic servant Snap. Yet, Amanda is alive and well (or as well as could be expected, given that her husband abandoned her in such a fashion) and, under the advice of her husband’s friend the Younger Worthy brother, disguises herself as a prostitute, in the hopes of fooling Loveless and winning him back. Intertwined with this storyline is that of the brothers Worthy – the Elder of whom is pious and wealthy, and the Younger of whom, rakish but poor – and the young ladies, Hillaria and Narcissa, whom they are wooing for love and money, respectively. Though the audience certainly gets an impression of the style of Cibber’s play – fast-paced, snappy repartee imparted by larger-than-life characters – it is cheated on substance. The direction seems non-specific; there is little effort devoted to illuminating some of the denser bits of prose for today’s audience, and in general, the actors race through their lines without vibrating an emotional chord. The one stand-out is Hayward Morse as Sir William Wisewoud, father of Narcissa. Although present in too few scenes, Morse’s comic timing and understanding of theatrical pause were greatly appreciated. One of the oddities of this production is its venue. Obviously fringe venues do not grow on trees, but The White Bear was perhaps not the best choice. Whilst there are a vast number of plays that could be mounted very successfully in the pub theatre’s cave-like confines, Love’s Last Shift is not one of them – at least not with its current lighting design. The flamboyance of the play’s characters and costumes (the latter beautifully designed by Hazel Low) demands a more open and much more brightly-lit stage. In an outdoor venue, for instance, this play would take on an entirely different feel. As it is, there is something a bit surreal about sitting in such a dark and cramped space, watching the colourfully-dressed actors go sprightly through their motions. Indeed, the production feels as though it were taking place inside a mausoleum – an unfortunate connotation for a play that has been resurrected from historical obscurity.
Tues - Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 5:00pm Tickets £12 (£10 Concessions) Box Office: 020 7793 9193 White Bear Theatre, 138 Kennington Park Road, London, SE11 4DJ
Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved
|
y Couzen