Shakespeare's
Globe at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
23.02.2014
“Shall
not he dance the morris too, for the credit of the Strand?
- No,
sweetheart, it will be too much for the boy.”
Beaumont's
lines prove cruelly prophetic for poor Matthew Needham, playing the
apprentice hero of this riotous romp. His right knee knackered during
the third preview, he soldiers on, first on crutches, then with a
hefty support. No understudies, or stunt doubles, at
this address.
And he
has all the best physical stuff, fighting all comers in action that
spills over into the pit and the lower gallery.
This is
the second major show to road-test the Globe's new Jacobean space,
and it could hardly be more different from The Duchess of Malfi.
It's an
inclusive concept, radical even today, embraced in Adele Thomas's
inventive, if over-extended, staging. The Citizen and his good lady
turn up to hear a play – The London Merchant – but they soon tire
of it, and demand an instant rewrite “in honour of the commons of
the City”, starring a Grocer Errant to be played by their best
young apprentice, Rafe [the unfortunate Needham].
Sharing
their popcorn and their bottles of Becks, the middle-class couple are
excellently done by Phil Daniels [who knows better than most how to
pronounce “sweetheart”] and Pauline McLynn, dispensing advice and
home remedies, and determined to have the last word in support of her
young Rafe.
Enjoyable
turns too from Dickon Tyrell as the pink-suited suitor Humphrey, who
makes the most of his pantomime couplets [rhymes for Jasper, or
Waltham, anyone ?]. Alex Waldmann and Sarah MacRae as the young
lovers [given a nice duet in Nigel Hess's accessibly romantic score],
and Hannah McPake as the formidable Mistress Merrythought.
Merrythought himself looks superb in his red wig and his “jolly red
nose”, though since he makes a point of singing at every
opportunity, a stronger voice might have helped.
A special
mention for the hard-working comedy duo of Tim and George [Dennis
Herdman and Dean Nolan], who make the announcement at the beginning,
and, as Rafe's Steward and Dwarf get involved in much of the
knockabout fun.
The piece
is stuffed [or padded out, as a harsher pen might put it] with song,
dance, doubles
entendres and slapstick. Not to mention the
megamix jig finale and no fewer
than four “Interludes”, originally included for wick-trimming,
but here used for more dancing, banter and incursions by hawkers
touting ice-cream and beer.
As the
text makes clear in the first scene, despite the fancy language and
the filth, this play would originally have been performed by
children. And for their next bold experiment, the Globe are doing
just that for Marston's The Malcontent, opening on April
3.
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