MR DARCY LOSES THE PLOT
LipService
Theatre
at the Cramphorn Theatre
10.11.2017
for The Reviews Hub
LipService
have a dedicated following for their unique brand of literary fun –
it’s good to see them bringing their tour of Mr Darcy Loses the
Plot to the Cramphorn, their
first visit here for some years.
It’s
a two-woman band; like
all their shows this spiffing spoof is
written and performed by Maggie Fox – the loftier of the two, a
“fine tall presence” as our
Mr Darcy
– and Sue Ryding. Like Thrills
and Quills, their
other show currently on the road, it
draws its inspiration from the oeuvre of Jane Austen. But other women
writers worm their way into the proceedings
– Gaskell, Potter
and Du Maurier inter alia – as the character of Darcy flows from
the Austen pen.
It
transpires that he is less than happy with the way his role is
developing –
the
dashing Mr Wickham
seems to be getting all the romantic action.
In a
fit of frustration,
seeking
a more exciting storyline, he
finds
himself in
Manderley having
close encounters with Mrs Danvers (she’s
just like Judith Anderson in the movie) and the mousey
second
Mrs de Winter.
The
intimate setting is furnished with screens and ottomans
adorned by quilts, contributed by a cottage industry of devoted,
creative fans. There’s
a multimedia element, too, with the Netherfield
ballroom
sequence especially effective, and a
chance to relive
that notorious scene by the lake. The
video inserts work brilliantly, with the live action blending almost
seamlessly with the version on screen. The “outdoor swimming” is
especially surreal, with a Lego
Darcy, homespun special effects, and our hero stranded on the beach
at Manderley, before
being tempted back to the Parsonage for his big scene, The Proposal.
The
mobile screens effect the transitions between one scene and the next.
The two-dimensional Mr Bingham is a cardboard cut-out
before his character is fleshed out, and much use is made of puppets
and dolls to people the stage. With Wickham’s teenage groupies, for
example.
Virtue
is continually made of necessity – the modest means and the
makeshift effects are celebrated. Jasper the dog, for instance, is
much funnier than one could imagine, not to mention Bingley melting
into the background, his waistcoat a perfect match for the wallpaper.
Irony and in-jokes abound. We occasionally stray into the present day
– the first writer we meet is modern, penning this very piece. She
has a nice, if irrelevant, riff on cloud storage. Other references,
while amusing, seem a little dated: Basil Brush, say, or “Man at
V&A”.
But
the
comedy is endlessly inventive – the chamber pot, mercifully unseen,
Bingley and Darcy struggling to have a convincing man-chat, a
candlestick telephone ringing in a handbag.
Mrs Gaskell, dark satanic mills belching smoke behind her head, uses
the wicked Wickham not in North and South but in Mary Barton. Mrs
Potter makes him a scarlet-clad foxy gentleman eager to make a meal
of the excruciatingly upper-middle-class Jemima Puddleduck.
It’s
all very silly, great
fun and more than a little bonkers. It
probably works best for those fortunate enough to have read all the
books in question. But there’s a wonderful chemistry between these
two very funny women, and their warm, generous performances leave us
all feeling
a little more educated, and richly entertained.
