The production of Don Quixote directed by Angus Jackson which has recently opened at the Swan Theatre is the RSC’s tribute to Miguel de Cervantes who died at almost exactly the same time as Shakespeare.
It is a modern play by James Fenton based on some of the episodes in Cervantes’s picaresque novel. The first half before the interval is a series of farcical sketches as the ancient and deluded Don Quixote played by David Threlfall persuades his servant Sancho Panza played by Rufus Hound to accompany him on his misguided and misinterpreted adventures. Don Quixote speaks in an antiquated, anciently formal way, while Sancho Panza has a modern demotic. It is full of visual stimulus: puppet horses, puppet babies and a toddler, flying, sword fights, windmills, games of catch, sheep, the collection of content for a fardel, a chain gang of gallery slaves, a cage for imprisonment. The scene changes and manipulation of props is slick and skilful, missing few attempts at comedy along the way. One of the ways it is held together is by the frequent presence of a delightfully gormless boy, splendidly played by Richard Leeming. Another is the delight of seeing which cast member is going to be next horse and anticipation of what they will do to create horsiness. The third is the frequent appearance of quasi-Spanish songs.
There are more sketches in the shorter second half: bed scenes, a joust fight on ‘horseback’, a charming caged lion, court scenes and a flying horse, a variety of silly walks. The humiliation of Don Quixote by the court introduces sourer, more sombre tones as does Don Quixote’s encounter at a graveside and his final deathbed scene.
Rufus Hound interacts throughout with the audience (it is hard to believe that it is Sancho Panza doing so) with plenty of scope for improvisation. It is an entertaining show. Make sure you leave your brain at home.
Volpone, Review by Peter Buckroyd.
I would be very surprised if you will see a more engaging and more accomplished acting performance this year than Henry Goodman’s as Volpone in Trevor Nunn’s current production of Volpone at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. From his famous opening line to the last line of the epilogue Goodman has the audience transfixed and delighted by this chameleon character. From the astute businessman to the hilarious mountebank to the sophisticated seducer, to the disguised officer, Goodman dominates both physically and vocally. Every word can be heard perfectly – no mean feat in a theatre where this is rarely the case – Â and his range of facial expressions and physical poses constantly delights.
One of the challenges of this text is when to make the characters ‘real’ and when to make them caricatures. Â Volpone is a character. Whereas the four gulls have elements of caricature in that they are simply obsessed by the prospect of riches, we believe Volpone when he says that he has more joy in the acquisition of wealth than in the wealth itself. He needs constant stimulus. When he can’t find it externally he provides it for himself, from calling for entertainment from his dwarf, Nano (John Key), his hermaphrodite Androgyno (Ankur Bahl) and his castrated clown Castrone (Julian Hoult), when he senses that he might be bored, to providing it for himself when he delights in the possibilities that the role of officer can provide him in and around the court scenes at the end.
Another challenge is trying to balance the moral patterning which is at the heart of Jonson’s satire. It is compounded by Jonson’s apparent lack of interest in developing the conflict between good and evil. Celia and Bonario need to be strong for this to work and I didn’t feel they were strong or ‘real’ enough. Andy Apollo’s Bonario is very pleasing to look at, but Nunn makes no attempt to present him as Corbaccio’s son except perhaps to suggest that he has been snooping round Volpone’s house in that he is told to hide through one exit and then appears from a different one. Celia whines and cowers, capitulating easily to her husband. Rhiannon Handy shrilly shrieks through her third role this season and her accent is so peculiar (is it meant to be cod eastern European? if so why?) that it makes it almost impossible to understand a thing she says. A real shame. She is miscast.
Nunn does much to make the play contemporary. Stephen Brimson Lewis’s set is modern and there is one unexpected visual delight after another. Narcissistic media celebrity Lady Politic Would-Be is followed almost everywhere by a video recorder; Volpone has installed CTV screens; his fake heartbeat in on screen for the scenes where he pretending to be at death’s door; the stock exchange is relayed to his house; Peregrine is a young twenty first century American travelling hippy. There is also a lot of clever and appropriate verbal updating and some satirical gags (such as Volpone’s Italian mountebank’s ‘your shitty’ and good shitizens’.
Another problem with the text for a modern audience comes about in the scenes where Volpone is not present. The interchanges between Sir Politic Would-Be (Steven Pacey) and Peregrine (Colin Ryan) are there to widen Jonson’s satirical canvas but they are not well integrated into the plot and these scenes are bound to drag a little, despite everything Nunn has done to update the references. The scenes are well-played, but I did wonder whether the play might have been enhanced by cutting them.
All four gulls are very well played. Miles Richardson’s Voltore is a corrupt contemporary lawyer – authoritative, confident, single-minded and, when need be at the end living off his enfeebled wits. Matthew Kelly’s Corvino is a vile hypocrite; Kelly shows that there is no end to his selfish, destructive exploitation of his wife – to him just another possession of no value. Annette McLaughlan’s Essex it girl cum celebrity Lady Politic Would-Be is a joy to listen to and watch. Geoffrey Freshwater’s Corbaccio is superb. Freshwater gives the character real development as he ages; his deafness opens up the possibilities of lots of unexpected gags and laughs; he is brilliant.
What else to say? The music is great. John Key leads the trio of weird servants in several terrific numbers, several of the rap. Goodman is brilliant in the seduction scene and shows off his wonderful singing voice splendidly. The minor characters (Celia apart) are very well played giving depth and credibility to the court scenes at the end which are so often rather an anti-climax. And there is Mosca, played by Orion Lee. I didn’t understand the characterisation, I couldn’t fathom the Bond-film-style Chinese servant idea and while it was evident that Lee was working hard I didn’t get his character’s motivation.
Still, this is a fascinating production. Maybe it was because so much of it was so good that I began to see for the first time some of the flaws in the play itself. It think it would be a mistake for any theatre lover to miss Goodman’s performance. It has been the highlight of my theatre year so far.
If you haven’t seen it yet, come to Stratford to do so. And you will have a warm welcome (as well as homemade bread, marmalade and jams) at Moss Cottage if you do.
Arden of Faversham review by Peter Buckroyd.
Arden of Faversham is an unusual play written by Anon, an Elizabethan Joe Orton. It is a very early example of a domestic drama based on an actual event, the murder of Arden, a rare unaristocratic case recorded by Hollinshead in his Chronicles. The plot is straightforward. Arden has come into money but finds that his wife Alice is having an affair with low-class Mosby. Alice and Mosby invent a plan to murder Arden. They get Arden’s servant Michael to procure poison but the plot to kill Arden fails. They then employ two hired assassins, Shakebag and Will (can those names put together possibly be accidental?). Shakebag and Will are incompetent and keep on messing up killing Arden so in the end Alice and Mosby have to do it themselves.
In Polly Findlay’s production Arden (Ian Redford) owns a factory producing hideous Chinese novelty toys. There is a lovely pre-show mime with the workers in the factory, so get into your seat fifteen minutes before the play itself begins. It is slick, full of action and great fun to watch, all supervised by Arden sitting at his desk which houses a ghastly nodding Jesus. The main characters are introduced, each of them immediately recognisable in contemporary terms. Â Susan (Elspeth Brodie) is a repressed young Mrs Overall cleaner. Mosby (Keir Charles) is an Essex boy. Alice (Sharon Small) is an American on the make. Clarke (the poison supplier played by Christopher Middleton) is splendidly creepy.Shakebag and Will are great to watch. Tony Jayawardena is wonderful as Shakebag and plays splendidly with Jay Simpson’s Will.
The various episodes of failed murder are full of fun. There is a great torch routine with Shakebag and Wil. There’s a snowstorm. There’s fog. There are songs. There’s a scene with Lord Cheyne out jogging.
The whole thing is fast paced and wonderfully inventive, Polly Findlay constantly providing visual surprises, hilarious black comedy and increasing tension. Apart from being pompous and jealous (quite justifiably) Arden has done little wrong, but Findlay makes us want Shakebag and Will to succeed in their murderous mission. It’s a beautifully contrived moral dilemma, especially as the tension increases throughout the hour and forty minutes, the play being wisely performed without an interval. Just when the audience has decided that Shakebag and Will are never going to kill Arden the catastrophe happens at the end of the play. Time (in the form of the hideous chinese novelties) ticks away relentlessly on stage. Arden is killed and hoisted aloft in a great cardboard box the bottom of which reddens with blood stains as it hangs suspended.
The villains get their comeuppance at the end, after the audience has been caught up with the excitement and expectation of murder. It’s a perfect indictment of modern audiences’ and filmgoers’ delight in gory horror immorality. Findlay’s inventiveness lasts right until the very end with a quiet tableau finale and a final speech with the house lights out.
This production is a delight. The acting is slick, the direction brilliant, the design (Merle Hensel) constantly interesting. You must see it. And after an evening of horrifying comedy enjoy a comfortable night’s stay at Moss Cottage.
