Lindsay Posner has taken liberties with Oliver Goldsmith’s Restoration comedy and set it in the roaring twenties but how well it sits in its new timeframe. The dialogue is slick, witty and understandable, and the casting perfect on all counts. Anita Dobson delights in feathers and fringing as the snobbish Mrs Hardcastle, not quite the lady of the manor. Her husband Mr Hardcastle played by the excellent Michael Pennington who is marvellous as the crusty and somewhat tetchy custodian of all things old and past, manners, morals and furniture – much to his wife’s horror when he includes her amongst the antiques in his life.
Naturally the plot abounds with duplicitous dealings, mistaken identity, and frustrated romance, all for the good fun of the audience. Mrs Hardcastle dotes on her idle and good-for-nothing son, Tony, from her previous marriage to a Mr Lumpkin (how glad she must have been to change her name to Hardcastle!) and the likely lad is played by Harry Michell, a product of the Cambridge Footlights and Edinburgh Fringe making his professional stage debut. I must say he has taken to it like a duck to water, appearing right at home in the tweed plus fours, capable of singing a rousing bawdy song and with an unmistakable talent to amuse.
Marlow, the young gentleman about town ear-marked by his father as marriage fodder for Mr Hardcastle’s daughter, has the unenviable handicap of being tongue-tied and trembling in the presence of a lady of quality but able to steal kisses with the best of them when the girl’s a humble barmaid. Played with panache by Hubert Burton he makes the most of his dual role, alongside his lovelorn friend and partner in crime, Hastings, played by Jack Holden.
Mr Hardcastle’s daughter, Kate, also has two sides, the dutiful daughter and then in an attempt to catch her shy suitor, she pretends to be a barmaid. Catherine Steadman gives a vibrant performance, as does Charlotte Brimble as Constance, her cousin, destined to be matched with the doltish Tony but naturally in love with Hastings. Confused? You will be, but it is such fun and a pleasure to watch.
The revolving set is cleverly done, seamlessly blending between manor house, public house and the great outdoors without much interruption of the action. We really enjoyed it; the production is excellent and makes for a very jolly night out!
Jacquie Vowles