SHAW VS CHEKHOV

Theatre at the Tabard

★★★

“an engaging night of theatre”

‘Shaw vs Chekhov’, directed by Jonas Cemm, forms the next instalment of theatre company SHAW2020’s ‘Shaw Versus’ series, in which George Bernard Shaw’s work is performed in conjunction with a play written by a contemporary. In this case: Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Proposal’ is paired with Shaw’s ‘Village Wooing’. It’s a charming double-billing, but also a good reminder that not everything a great writer writes is necessarily great.

First up was ‘The Proposal’, a thirty-minute play in which Joe Sargent’s Ivan intends to propose to Maryann O’Brien’s Natalya, but spends the duration of his time bent over in a bizarre mish mash of pains and heart palpitations, all the while bickering consistently with his nuptial victim-to-be. Lavish costumes and impressive set complemented accomplished performances, especially from O’Brien who remained strong throughout. Chekhov’s ‘Proposal’ is probably never going to rival his ‘Three Sisters’, but it still maintained glimmers of his characteristic charm. Anthony Wise as Natalya’s befuddled father Stepan was also adorable.

The latter piece in this double-bill was Shaw’s ‘Village Wooing’, a two-hander less hampered by heart palpitations. Village Wooing follows a pompous writer of well-known travel guides, and his enemy-to-lover assailant, who insists upon conversing with him, to his understandable aggravation. Upon a pleasure ship together, they enter a reluctant but gradually warm conversation, then part for soup, only to be reunited in the village shop in which O’Brien’s character works. By some inexplicable course, said pompous man ends up running the shop and romance follows closely behind.

Whilst the dialogue doesn’t have the electric charge of some of Shaw’s work, it is still accomplished and compelling (if a little overlong). Two-handers can be tough, but the performances boasted strength, and their repartee was successfully sustained, the energy never dropped.

The set design throughout was splendid, with an excellent eye for detail, right down to the stock and sweets in the village store. Within this double-bill, we are expertly transported from 19th Century Russia to a pleasure cruise to a village shop cleanly and impressively.

Whilst the chosen pieces are certainly not the poster child for these writers’ notoriety, direction was assured and compelling. Chekhov’ ‘Proposal’ was somewhat impeded by the necessity to have one actor hopping about almost start to finish with convulsions, which was more an irritating distraction than a narrative vehicle or humorous conceit. Nevertheless, ‘Shaw vs Chekhov’ is a sweet and enjoyable evening that celebrates the art generated by venerable playwrights, and especially the lesser-known examples of their work, which is always a fascinating and laudable endeavour. True, these short plays are certainly not the seminal work that defines the artistic prowess of ‘Shaw or Chekhov’; they can’t all be bangers. This is an engaging night of theatre that employs a fun double-bill format in which to showcase George Bernard Shaw.

SHAW VS CHEKHOV

Theatre at the Tabard

Reviewed on 8th August 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Macky Mann

Previously reviewed at this venue:

WODEHOUSE IN WONDERLAND | ★★★★ | July 2025

THE BUSINESS OF MURDER | ★★★ | October 2024

DUET | ★★★ | April 2024

THE SECRET GARDEN | ★★★★ | December 2023

ABOUT BILL | ★★★★★ | August 2023

SHAW VS CHEKHOV

★★★

“boils up into something incompletely satisfying, though satisfying nonetheless“

The voice of Bernard Shaw crackles like a tinny old wireless, sharing the postulate of Franklyn and Conrad Barnabas: that human life should span three-hundred years, increasing the complexity of modern society. This – the Creative Evolution – is a central idea explored in Shaw’s Back to Methuselah. It is worth pointing out that the Barnabases in question are characters from that very play. By introducing to the original petri dish new characters that elicit effervescent reactions, the production focusses on relationships.

Warm lights bring out a well-to-do 1920s living room full of gold gilt-edges of books, heavy-looking portraits and ceiling roses overhead, offering the glimpse into the heart of this boisterous domestic comedy.

They start as a pair; Franklyn (Edwin Flay) and Conrad (Anthony Wise) who teeter on the edge of clunky exposition as they outline their idea of Creative Evolution and its relevance to the situation at hand: that Clara, Franklyn’s wife, has left the household. Any clunkiness is forgotten when Franklyn’s brother-in-law, Immenso Champernoon (Jonas Cemm) enters the room. He is a brash, hilarious caricature of Shaw’s contemporary, G.K Chesterton (Shaw himself described the portrayal as libellous), who is shoe-horned into the play to commence a contest of ideas.

The rest of the cast are introduced one by one, bickering with Champernoon over the institution of marriage, eastern philosophy, the empire – a seemingly endless list of moral coordinates. Laura Fitzpatrick, as Franklyn’s wife and Immenso’s sister, Clara Barnabas, trails a knowing, contrariness around the stage, winding up the men in her midst and allowing them to argue over the fallout. Her daughter Savvy (Johanna Pearson-Farr) hams-up her flirtation with the Reverend Haslam (William Keetch), but this works with, not against, the action.

Cemm, as Champernoon, bears an uncanny likeness to Chesterton and every fast-paced line spat out with haughtiness feels like it might have been improvised by Chesterton himself. He puns and plays with paradox, blurting out words, arguments and ideas with a blistering wit that’s hard to keep up with at times.

With telegraphed nods to Shavian ideas of feminism and beauty, Mrs Etteen (Julia Faulkner) and Champernoon enter into a long and flirtatious quarrel. The gravity of these interactions is lost among the quick-fire comedy and, when it ends after eighty minutes, I can’t honestly remember having stopped to breathe.

This is a boisterous, rollicking, no-second-wasted production, although it is not without flaws. Published originally in a work entitled Short Stories, Scraps and Shavings, it follows that the structure of the thing is not wholly satisfying. There are no great payoffs to be found here, no sudden intakes of breath, no witty barbs building up, act after act, scene after scene. It is funny. But it all boils up into something incompletely satisfying, though satisfying nonetheless.

Reviewed by Sam Joseph

Tag Archives: Anthony Wise

SHAW VS CHEKHOV

★★★

Theatre at the Tabard

SHAW VS CHEKHOV

Theatre at the Tabard

★★★

“an engaging night of theatre”