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It may have been written over three hundred years ago, but Moliere's classic farce The Miser still has the power to turn on theatre audiences with its riotous, fast paced plot, larger than life characters and luscious wordplay
Now I'm not normally a girl to be impressed by looks alone, but this gorgeous specimen of a play won me over at first glance, thanks to Ashley Martin-Davis' exciting design. Call me shallow, but the Vivienne Westwood style renaissance-punk costumes, the haute couture make up and hair, and the dreamlike, paint splattered set that resembles the halfway point of an 18th century episode of Property Ladder all made for an irresistible first impression which only the appearance of Keith Chegwin in a corset could have possibly ruined.
Thankfully though, this handsome creation came equipped with all the personality and GSOH to see its seduction through, and last night's performance had the laughs flowing thick and fast. And not those "I'd better laugh very loud to show that I'm clever enough to get that joke" kind of laughs that so often echo around theatre audiences, but proper, infectious giggles that had every seat shaking.
The miser at the center of the play is Harpagon, the money-obsessed wrinkly who values financial issues above all else - even his children's happiness. So when his son and daughter set their romantic sights on non-financially lucrative marriages, the family embarks on a chaotic and extremely amusing battle of wits.
It's a canny choice by the Royal Exchange considering what's on everyone's mind at the moment, and economic climate is directly referenced by Harpagon in his punctuated quip to the audience 'You can't trust the banks'.
Derek Griffiths is outstanding as the crooked old miser, sneering and snarling like a pantomime villain and winning as much audience response as one too - especially in the more interactive scenes of the second act. Whether or not pantomime is the way to go with Moliere is debatable, but it certainly seemed to entertain.
Danny Lee Wynter is likeably peacock-esque as the dandyish son Cleante, while Helen Atkinson-Wood brings a comic maturity and MILF-like charisma to the role of sexy matchmaker Frosine. As the bosom heaving, hyperventilating, cotton candy haired daughter Elise, Helen Bradbury falls around the stage in her sensational costume like a wind-up doll.
On the whole the cast is strong and well-gelled - especially when you consider that direction of the play was handed over from Helena Kaut-Howson to Braham Murray in the late stages of rehearsals. Kaut-Howson's original intention to bring brooding darkness to the production seems to have become lost in the handover, but Murray's extraction of the light and beautiful aspects of the commedia dell'arte for this production is definitely successful, if at times a little too panto.
3/5
The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
until 3rd October 2009
Tags: the miser moliere jayne robinson stage notes theatre
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