At Mappa Mundi |
| Mappa Mundi- The Compleat Female Stage Beauty , Cornerstone, Didcot , November 8, 2013 |
The Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey HatcherMappa Mundi/ Theatr Mwldan Co-Production seen at Cornerstone, Didcot It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was Restoration London and it was the best of times for any woman who wanted to become an actress because King Charles the Second had decreed that female parts should henceforth only be played by females. However, it was the worst of all possible times for actors like Edward Kynaston whose speciality up to now had been Shakespeare's heroines. Now he was forbidden to play female roles and he became, for a time at least, a lost man. This is a clever, funny and informative play that, in examining the plight of Kynaston, becomes a very moving one. I confess that there were tears in my eyes as I watched his journey from playing Desdemona to passing his wisdom and craft on to Margaret Hughes, who had dared create a sensation by playing the same part in opposition to him. To see them together create the first modern-style Desdemona and to see him take courage from that to forge a whole new career for himself is genuinely thrilling. Francois Pandolfo is magnificent in all the mood swings of the role. He presents an utterly convincing portrait of a feted actor suddenly staring into an abyss, almost plunging in but finally acquiring the courage to reach for greater heights. The other characters are more sketchily drawn but all have their moments. Lynne Seymour convincingly moves from a stilted actress to one who starts to sense the character behind the words as Margaret Hughes begins to discover Desdemona as a wronged woman. Richard Nichols gives a good sense of King Charles' love of life and excess and of the regal ruthlessness that lies behind the bonhomie. Mali Tudno Jones as his pretty witty Nell Gwynn is wondrously vulgar yet genuinely loving and she gets to sing some very rude Purcell like catches. Elin Phillips is loving as Maria, the besotted stage manager who ends up stage managing Kynaston's recovery from the depths. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones not only plays a personable Samuel Pepys, he also directed and designed this fast-moving and colourful production. Keiron Self and Polly Kilpatrick give their untrustworthy aristos just the right amount of loathsomeness. Rhys Downing's aristocrat is much more honest and trustworthy, even if he doesn't stand by Kynaston when times turn nasty. Liam Tobin is very good as Thomas Betterton, the man who can never be the star player in his own company. Only the most die-hard Puritan could fail to enjoy this roistering, bawdy comedy that becomes in its second half an absorbing and moving drama. I had two such puritans sitting next to me who didn't crack a single smile. They left at the interval and so missed the powerful working out of a very good play and the culmination of Francois Pandolfo's superb creation of the actor Kyna |
Reviewed by: Victor Hallett |
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