JEEVES TAKES CHARGE

Charing Cross Theatre

★★★

“Wooldridge’s staging is quite masterful”

From the age of six, P. G. Wodehouse knew that he wanted to be a writer. He certainly lived up to his ambition, writing in the course of his lifetime more than seventy novels, over three-hundred short stories, the lyrics for over two-hundred songs, more than twenty plays and several film scripts. And this doesn’t include his journalism, essays and verse. Most people, however, immediately conjure up his quintessentially English characters of Jeeves and Wooster when Wodehouse is mentioned. First appearing in print in 1915, the highly competent valet who serves his wealthy and idle master have claimed their place in English literature. They were created in a world very different to the one we live in now. A lost, privileged world, completely out of step with a modern society, and yet it is always interesting to witness its continuing popularity. Perhaps it is the gentle satire that appeals, or the warmth and affection in the writing.

Sam Harrison, in the one-man show “Jeeves Takes Charge”, latches onto this lightness of touch ignoring any necessity – or impulse – to engage with a twenty-first century sensibility. That he succeeds is no mean feat. He has the vocal and physical agility to take on over twenty characters and keep us more or less entertained for a couple of hours straight; largely down to the exquisite language of Wodehouse that translates smoothly from the page to the stage.

The main premise of the story is that the servant is far smarter than the master. Bertie Wooster is posh but dim – a foppish loafer with plenty of charm but low on intellect. Harrison emphasises the latter with a heightened campness and an elastic physicality that pays homage – at times – to Norman Wisdom. In contrast, his voice drops an octave to portray the lugubrious Jeeves, always one step ahead of his master. The plot essentially revolves around Jeeves continually trying to save Wooster from himself, and in particular from an ill-matched and potentially disastrous marriage. Of course, there is the added motive that if Wooster marries, Jeeves is out of a job (a wife would bring a new domestic regime, leading Jeeves to believe his dismissal would be inevitable).

There are farcical elements to the story which include a lost manuscript for a scandalous memoir, a domineering and ultimatum-hungry fiancé, a decrepit uncle, many a fear-inducing auntie – all staples of the Wodehouse repertoire. Under Hugh Wooldridge’s sleek and streamlined direction, Harrison employs his comedic talents to the full, with a vocal versatility that can switch character almost mid-sentence. The evening is stretched out thinly, however, and our patience is challenged as we approach the two-hour mark. The success of the television series starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie relied heavily on the short episodic nature of its transmissions. “Jeeves Takes Charge” weaves in two other stories into the narrative which dampens our attention, saved only by Harrison’s uninterrupted energy and dynamism (he plays a terrifically tipsy Gussie Fink-Nottle).

The characterisation is consistently clear; and so too are the many locations, thanks to Caite Hevner’s ingenious video and set design. Projections onto picture frames and the French windows are constantly changing as the action is relocated, and with the aid of Tim Mitchell’s lighting, the wallpaper is transformed miraculously to create entirely different interiors. Wooldridge’s staging is quite masterful, right up to curtain call during which Harrison takes his bow surrounded by the portraits of all the characters he has played.

The sense of nostalgia is pervasive. Which is the show’s charm as well as its distraction. It is light entertainment in the extreme, and distinctly old fashioned. The social satire is dated, but the linguistic inventiveness is timeless. It may be difficult to relate to, but Harrison draws us in with his vibrant performance and grasp of traditional comedy. We don’t always need to be on the cutting edge – a bit of gentle escapism never did us any harm.

JEEVES TAKES CHARGE

Charing Cross Theatre

Reviewed on 18th August 2026

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Craig Fuller

JEEVES TAKES CHARGE

★★★★

“A sunny, high-spirited, and thoroughly absorbing evening”

What fun! Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is just the ticket for an evening of charming escapism and energetic frolics.

Performed by Alfresco Actors in the garden of St Paul’s, the Actors’ Church, this production makes wonderful use of its surroundings. The stage furniture is so minimal as to be a blank canvas. The company’s four actors are left to conjure the pandemonium of Bertie Wooster’s world out of a churchyard and their own ingenuity. They project over the hum of Covent Garden without ever letting the outside world derail proceedings.

P.G. Wodehouse was one of the great comic writers of the twentieth century, and this is an adaptation of his 1963 novel of the same name. His stories revolve around the amiable but gormless Bertie Wooster who has a smoothly competent valet, Jeeves. The comedy runs on wordplay, misunderstanding, eccentric characters, and the gap between Bertie’s chaotic attempts to solve problems and Jeeves’ serene ability to sort them out. The play involves an imperilled engagement, a formidable prospective father-in-law and a friend in need of a favour. The country house setting is another ‘character’, with social rules meaning one wrong word can ruin a young blighter’s life prospects.

Oliver Stockley adapts and directs. He pulls the material cheerfully into the present. Modern touches in the songs, dances, accents and sly asides litter the text. The audience laps it all up, from a parody of Hamlet to some frankly deranged choreography. The performers’ delight in the frothy piece is infectious.

Everything from the light comedy repertoire is here: slapstick, cancan dancing, verbal fizz and impeccable timing. Jonathan Deakin’s songs are most awfully clever. ‘Song of the King’ is a stand-out. The cast doubles as the band, giving the evening the loose, convivial swing of a garden party that has got slightly out of hand.

Shaun Mendum’s Bertie is a joy. His facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission. His physicality, wringing a whole range of emotion from one rubbery face, sits somewhere between Mr Bean and Inspector Clouseau. His willingness to get down and dirty during the tirade in the play-within-a-play deserves particular kudos.

Scott Slocombe provides the perfect counterpoint. His Jeeves is calm, grounded and utterly unflappable, as well as entirely lovable. Slocombe turns in a fine comic contrast as Madeline’s father. Lowenna Morgelyn moves gleefully and with real agility between generation and sex in her given roles.

Not everything lands. The pacing is slow to start, gaining dynamism only around the one-third mark. With four actors covering a houseful of characters and the costumes and props so pared back, it is sometimes hard to work out which of several characters an actor is portraying. Chioma Uma solves the problem brilliantly. Her inventive accents and mannerisms differentiate her three roles of Emerald, Stinker and Plank without any need for a costume change.

What makes the evening so enchanting is the actors’ sheer enthusiasm. They embrace the silliness without apology and invite the audience to do the same. For two hours, you forget the sensible world beyond the railings and immerse yourself in glorious absurdity.

A sunny, high-spirited, and thoroughly absorbing evening of outdoor theatre. Come prepared for music, physical comedy, linguistic mischief and plenty of Wodehouse-inspired mayhem. Leave your good judgment at the church gates.

Tag Archives: P. G. Wodehouse

JEEVES TAKES CHARGE

★★★

Charing Cross Theatre

JEEVES TAKES CHARGE

Charing Cross Theatre

★★★

“Wooldridge’s staging is quite masterful”