Anastasia Miari reviews Jamie Lloyd's solid production of She Stoops to Conquer at the National's Olivier Theatre.
Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer is an undeniably funny play, and this production by Jamie Lloyd can make the corners of even the toughest critic’s mouth twitch uncontrollably. Direct addresses to the audience heighten the hilarity, whilst the dance sequences during scene transitions provoke fits of laughter just as you manage to catch a breath.
When Marlow finds himself lost en route to the house of a possible love interest, he is advised to stay at the inn just up the road. Unfortunately, the advice comes from Tony Lumpkin, the prank-loving brother of Kate Hardcastle, the woman Marlow’s supposed to be wooing. As Marlow mistakes Miss Hardcastle for a barmaid and her father for an over-bearing landlord, chaos ensues.
The set design by Mark Thompson is both inventive and impressive. A rotating stage takes on multiple locations, each as detailed as the last. A log fire blazes in the Hardcastle home as numerous trees populate its surroundings.
While the acting is melodramatic, the exaggerated archetypal characters are welcome in this 'more is more' genre. However, David Fynn as Tony Lumpkin can afford to tone it down: crotch thrusting and scratching can only get so many laughs. Mutton as lamb Mrs Hardcastle played by Sophie Thompson is by far the most outrageous character. Craving the lifestyle of the fashionable London folk, she lies about her age, adopts the “latest” trends and attempts to tweak her humble West Country dialect to that of her more refined visitors. Thompson does a brilliant job as the old crone, though her mock London accent occasionally slips into a Jamaican twang. Still, this adds to the comedic value and she’s applauded on every exit.
Termed a laughing comedy in 1773 when it was first staged, the play’s comedic value has managed to transcend time in this production. Raising questions about vanity and snobbery, She Stoops to Conquer is just as relevant today as it was over two hundred years ago.
She Stoops to Conquer runs at National Theatre until 28th March
Image by Johan Persson
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