Tag Archives: Oliver Goldsmith

“She Stoops to Conquer” at the Orange Tree Theatre

Moving Oliver Goldsmith’s 1773 comedy to the 1930s proves a neat idea in director Tom Littler’s new production. Add a cracking cast and some seasonal touches and the show, which would be perfect any time of year, makes a very happy Christmas theatre trip.

This comedy of manners and mistaken identity is well known, but Littler makes it blissfully light. The wit is verbose, surely tongue-tying for performers, but the delivery here is always clear. Dashes of Wodehouse help – the division of town and country and a clash of classes become spiffing fun. And Littler is very much at home working in the round, making sure the action zips along among Anett Black and Neil Irish’s stylish design.

This is an ensemble that looks as if it’s having a great time and every role comes into its own. First up are Mr and Mrs Hardcastle, the country gentry, played by David Horovitch and Greta Scacchi. Horovitch gets a laugh out of nearly every line as the “grumbletonian” patriarch. Scacchi keeps up, despite a less forgiving role – anyone else feel sorry for this doting mum who doesn’t get her trip to London? As her prodigal offspring, Guy Hughes is the convivial heart of the play. He’s great with crowds and the Orange Tree’s community performers who have a lovely pub scene – well done them.

Guy-Hughes-and-Community-Company-in-She-Stoops-To-Conquer-credit-Marc-Brenner
Guy Hughes and theCommunity Company

Celebrations continue with the play’s pairs of lovers. Sabrina Bartlett and Robert Mountford are at home as super-toffs plotting to elope, their roles serving as fitting mirrors to our stars, Tanya Reynolds and Freddie Fox. As the leads, the comedy from this pair is perfection. Reynolds is a great flapper. And so is Fox – the perfect “silly puppy” – especially when his “list of blunders” is slowly revealed.

Among the giggles there is sincerity, too. Reynolds shows us the dutiful daughter Goldsmith wrote, as well as the modern woman we want. When she claps her hands at a scheme, you want to join in. But when she starts to fall in love, it’s sweet. And who doesn’t like a rom-com at Christmas?

Until 13 January 2024

www.orangethreetheatre.co.uk

Photos by Marc Brenner

“She stoops to conquer’ at the National Theatre

Any production of a comedy at the National Theatre is likely to be compared to the venue’s most recent success, One Man, Two Guvnors. As Richard Bean’s updating of Goldoni’s play moves to Broadway, and opens with a new cast in the West End, the National’s newest attempt to make us merry is a traditional version of another 18th-century classic, Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer. Remarkably, the National has succeeded again – this is a delightful production with guaranteed belly laughs.

Our hero Marlow is sent to visit his prospective bride Kate, played commendably by Harry Hadden-Paton and Katherine Kelly. But while Marlow can banter with barmaids he is impotent when flirting with women of his own class. A practical joke by Kate’s half-brother Tony Lumpkin (a superb comic creation in the hands of David Fynn) leads Marlow to believe the home of his future father-in-law is the local inn. Exploiting the confusion, Kate joins in the deception, bawdily stooping in class to conquer her diffident suitor.

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER by Goldsmith
Sophie Thompson as Mrs Hardscastle

Another pair of lovers, Constance (the appealing Cush Jumbo) and Hastings, joins the fun, planning to elope under the nose of the former’s guardian, the pretentious and avaricious Mrs Hardcastle. Sophie Thompson is superb in the role, her deliciously exaggerated performance making her one of the most endearing characters of the piece. But it’s John Heffernan as the foppish Hastings who takes the evening’s comic laurels delivering a master class in buffoonery and raillery.

It’s a relief that director Jamie Lloyd doesn’t try anything tricksy with the play. She stoops to conquer is “old-fashioned trumpery” that doesn’t need a modern take. Lloyd has the confidence to play it straight, knowing he just has to control the action, and the laughs will follow. Mark Thompson’s design provides the doors to slam – the text doesn’t really call for them but they add a reassuringly farcical touch. And the music – all pots and pans and trolololing, provided by Ben & Max Ringham, directed and arranged by David Shrubsole, adds immeasurably to the production. You have to see the ensemble perform it to believe how funny it is – that’s if you can hear it above the laughter.

Until 28 March 2012

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Photo by Johan Persson

Written 1 February 2012 for The London Magazine