February 29, 2008
It’s 1895 in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, and isn’t life wonderful for Lord Arthur Savile? He has an easy life and a gorgeous, good woman about to marry him in four days’ time. But lovely Sybil Merton’s battleaxe of a mother is highly suspicious of Arthur’s morals and background, and hires a famous clairvoyant to look into his past and future. Blast! Mr. Podgers sees a spotless past but a blood-filled horizon coming closer for our hero. What’s he to do? He could not possibly marry Sybil if blood was still (according to Podgers) on his hands, so he’d better kill somebody – soon!
And off we go, on a mad merry-go-round of more and more urgent attempts to knock off various friends and members of the family, with jealous assistance by Baines the butler, and a subversive but bungling German anarchist. For the audience, under no immediate danger of death, it’s all great fun, as we watch Savile and his two cohorts try and fail, again and again, ever more crazy schemes to rid their world of another innocent, if irritating, soul. Postponing his marriage makes his future mother-in-law even more suspicious of his character and commitment, and we gleefully watch the pressure mount.
Ben Pearce, as Arthur Savile, is likeable, though his Mayfair upbringing sits uncomfortably on his shoulders, and Neil Smith’s Baines is solid and dependable, as all good butlers should be, clearing up the mess (sometimes literally) left behind by others. Wendy Clare’s delightful Nellie, the new maid in the household, shrewdly snaps up Baines, allowing us to look forward to a double wedding. Samantha Robinson’s Sybil is suitably shallow but delicious, and her mother (amply and ably played by Annie Bennett) is a fearful torrent of suspicion and interrogation, reminiscent of Lady Bracknell.
The set and costumes are elaborate, professional, and serve the action perfectly. Lighting is good but slightly unimaginative, and Terry Gallager directs the whole thing efficiently and smoothly, organising every entrance, exit, and sweeping movement well, though pace, style, and suspense all suffer along the way.
Overall, it’s a typically admirable BCP production, from the warm welcome front of house to the perfectly detailed box of dangerous chocolates, and, as usual, I enjoyed putting my evening’s entertainment in their hands. You should try it too!
And off we go, on a mad merry-go-round of more and more urgent attempts to knock off various friends and members of the family, with jealous assistance by Baines the butler, and a subversive but bungling German anarchist. For the audience, under no immediate danger of death, it’s all great fun, as we watch Savile and his two cohorts try and fail, again and again, ever more crazy schemes to rid their world of another innocent, if irritating, soul. Postponing his marriage makes his future mother-in-law even more suspicious of his character and commitment, and we gleefully watch the pressure mount.
Ben Pearce, as Arthur Savile, is likeable, though his Mayfair upbringing sits uncomfortably on his shoulders, and Neil Smith’s Baines is solid and dependable, as all good butlers should be, clearing up the mess (sometimes literally) left behind by others. Wendy Clare’s delightful Nellie, the new maid in the household, shrewdly snaps up Baines, allowing us to look forward to a double wedding. Samantha Robinson’s Sybil is suitably shallow but delicious, and her mother (amply and ably played by Annie Bennett) is a fearful torrent of suspicion and interrogation, reminiscent of Lady Bracknell.
The set and costumes are elaborate, professional, and serve the action perfectly. Lighting is good but slightly unimaginative, and Terry Gallager directs the whole thing efficiently and smoothly, organising every entrance, exit, and sweeping movement well, though pace, style, and suspense all suffer along the way.
Overall, it’s a typically admirable BCP production, from the warm welcome front of house to the perfectly detailed box of dangerous chocolates, and, as usual, I enjoyed putting my evening’s entertainment in their hands. You should try it too!