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Old fashioned soap thriller
Colin Baker as the flamboyant Count Fosco - who might not be all he seems . . . The Woman in White Lichfield Garrick **** PERIOD drama is
enjoying a popular renaissance with
Downton Abbey
hugely popular on television, and Steampunk Victoriana gaining traction
on the page. Garrick Artistic
Director Adrian Jackson continues to have a keen eye for combining the
artistically interesting ,with what audiences will come to see, and was
rewarded with a big opening night turn out for
The Woman in White. The play follows the story of Walter Hartright, a
handsome art teacher, who is assailed by the Woman in White on a London
road at midnight where she pleads with him for his help to prevent her
from being taken to an asylum. Love, suspense and danger all combine to create
a haunting mystery of mistaken identities and stolen fortunes, heroism,
high drama and volatile passions. Originally a best -selling novel by Wilkie
Collins, a contemporary and friend of Charles Dickens, it caused a
sensation in London and New York in 1860, and has been adapted into a
stage drama by Nicola Boyce. Both Collins and Dickens would serialise their
work in the likes of The Observer and The News of the World.
Their stories were the soap operas of the day. As I watched this drama,
unfold I was struck by the similarities of plot with modern day soaps
such as Coronation St. There is a secret which must come out.
There is a wrong which must be righted. There is money embezzled. There
is deception, arson and death- and there is humour and pin sharp
observation of the human condition.
A strong cast includes Colin Baker, fondly
remembered as a Doctor Who. Colin performs alongside Peter Amory,
famous for playing evil Chris Tate in Emmerdale and Karen Ford who
played the art teacher 'Miss Booth' from Grange Hill. However it is Nick Rohan as Walter
Hartright who caught my eye. He was the glue that held the production
together giving an understated, but essential, performance which allowed
those around him to shine. Inevitably Colin Baker made the most of the
flamboyant character of Count Fosco. The play is long, but engaging, from opening to
closing curtain it is three hours. Director Ian Dickens wisely delivers
it in three Acts with two intervals ensuring that audience fatigue does
not set in and offering extra opportunity to discuss events in the bar. It is presented in episodic form, in thirty
three scenes, providing focus and energy to each segment. With so many
scenes, the stage and scenery crews are very busy. The interior sets are
well dressed and sumptuous, with good use of front of curtain sequences.
A minor quibble was the failure to drop the curtain to provide a visual
break between a drawing room, and grave , with the headstone fully lit
next to rugs and chairs! Victorian drama is a great opportunity for
actresses , leading ladies Emily Woodward and Nicola Weeks lit up the
stage with their flowing dresses and period affectations. Not only does this play boast plot parallels with
modern day soaps, it also offers themes which are timeless as well. The
young suitor pursues his love for love, not money. Two sisters are
devoted to each other whatever life throws at them, celebrating the joys
of friendship and loyalty. Greed and avarice are doomed. There is even a secret society thrown into the
mix too. Nicola Boyce is also to be congratulated in presenting the
patriarchal mores of the time in such a way that the audience is rooting
for the wronged leading lady, reflecting feminist attitudes which had
not found expression when the story was written. This production is an
inspired revival, delivered with style and aplomb. The Woman in White, runs at the
Lichfield Garrick to 02-03-13 before heading to the Theatre Royal in
Windsor and the Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold later in the month. Gary Longden
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