At 350 years old, or thereabouts, Molière’s ‘The Miser’ arrives in the West End with a revival that surely the playwright himself would approve of.
‘Freely adapted’ by Sean Foley and Phil Porter, the original five act comedy is nicely condensed into a much more manageable two acts.
Griff Rhys Jones makes a welcome return to the stage in the title role (Harpagon), while Lee Mack makes his West End debut as Maître Jacques, The Miser’s cook, coachman, executioner and general dogsbody. Mathew Horne as Valère, Harpagon’s mistrusted employee, makes up the ‘names’ in the cast.
Remaining faithful(ish) to the original plot, and still set in the reign of Louis XIV – ( “the Arc de Triomphe isn’t built for another 150 years”) – there’s a modern spin on the dialogue with many a topical reference thrown in; zero hours contracts, Trump and Sport Direct all get a mention.
A lot of the humour is a tad puerile, for instance two characters afflicted with speech impediments lead to predictable, yet amusing, situations; Katy Wix as Elise has trouble with her Rs, so it’s a sure fire guarantee she’s going to have to say ‘rank’ at some stage. The spirit of Carry On lives on .. !
Katy Wix (most recently seen as Fergie on Channel 4’s The Windsors) was great fun to watch (even though at times she appeared to have morphed back into the Duchess!), as was the rather lispy Cléante (Ryan Gage) camping it up in some deeply garish outfits.
It was almost like watching one of those plays that Morecambe and Wise used to do, mixed up with a bit of the Two Ronnies – the ‘marry Marianne’ dialogue in the first act could quite easily have been a Barker and Corbett sketch.
The slapstick elements weren’t as sharp as they could have been and paled alongside the visual gags of the likes of The Play That Goes Wrong. Lee Mack was hugely entertaining, but at times it felt like you were watching one of his shows and his gags felt a little too stylised for the plot.
Altogether though, a joyous evening with jolly japes aplenty but bordering at times on panto – Oh no it wasn’t … Oh yes it was.
BIRMINGHAM STAGE COMPANY CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY WITH
MORE BEST OF BARMY BRITAIN!
Birmingham Stage Company presents
Horrible Histories – More Best of Barmy Britain!
Written by Terry Deary and Neal Foster
4 August – 2 September
Garrick Theatre
This August, Birmingham Stage Company takes over the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End to present Horrible Histories – More Best of Barmy Britain, celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary. This marks 12 years of Horrible Histories Live on Stage and 6 years in the West End. This special instalment of Barmy Britain follows the sell-out successes of Barmy Britain – Parts One, Two and Three as well as last years The Best of Barmy Britain and will feature more of the horribly best bits from all past productions plus a brand new scene about Shakespeare. More Best of Barmy Britain opens on 7 August with previews from the 4 August and runs until 2 September. Tickets go on sale via Amazon Tickets pre-sale on the 24 January and will go on general sale on 30 January.
The production will run underneath Birmingham Stage Company’s stage adaptation of David Walliams’ best-selling book – Gangsta Grannywhich opens at the Garrick on the 1 August with previews from 26 July and runs until 3 September. BSC have also just announced they will produce an adaptation of another of David Walliams’ hit stories – Awful Auntie which embarks on a national tour this September.
We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is everyone is dead!
So it’s time to prepare yourselves for a special production of Horrible Histories featuring MORE of your favourite characters from our barmy past – and a brand new scene with wordy Will!
Find out why the Romans were revolting! Could you survive the vicious Vikings? Can evil Elizabeth entertain England? Would you party with the Puritans? Clap along with crazy King Charles! Dare you stand and deliver to dastardly Dick Turpin? Vomit with the vile Victorians and prepare to do battle in the frightful First World War!
It’s history with the nasty bits left in!
Terry Deary, the creator of Horrible Histories, is one of Britain’s best-selling authors of the 21st Century and the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries. There are around 50 Horrible Histories titles with total sales of 25 million in 40 countries. He is also the author of over 200 fiction and non-fiction books for young people including his series of books Dangerous Days.
Neal Foster is Actor/Manager of The Birmingham Stage Company. Since its foundation the BSC has staged over seventy productions and become one of the world’s leading producers of theatre for children and their families. During the BSC’s twenty-five year history, Foster has performed roles including Grandma in George’s Marvellous Medicine, the title role in Skellig at The New Victory Theatre, New York, Storey in Awful Egyptians (Sydney Opera House) and Rex in Barmy Britain (Garrick Theatre, Apollo Theatre and Sydney Opera House). As a director, his work includes Fantastic Mr Fox, Tom’s Midnight Garden, The Jungle Book (all national tours) and Barmy Britain – Part One! Two!, Three! (Garrick Theatre) and The Best of Barmy Britain (Apollo Theatre), all of which he co-wrote with Terry Deary. He has also adapted and directed the national tour of Gangsta Granny by David Walliams which will be opening in the West End this August as well as the recently announced tour of Walliams’ Awful Auntie.
Horrible Histories – More Best of Barmy Britain is directed by Neal Foster, design is by Jackie Trousdale, lighting by Jason Taylor, and sound by Nick Sagar, music by Matthew Scott and choreography by Kenn Oldfield.
Horrible Histories Live shows are created by Neal Foster and The Birmingham Stage Company. BSC has been touring Horrible Histories for twelve years throughout the UK, Ireland, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Other current productions include David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny and Awful Auntie.
Horrible Histories are recommended for ages 5 to 105! (106 year olds may not like it as much).
