The Wolf at Network Theatre

The Wolf at Network Theatre

19 August, 2011
by: CatherineSpoonfed

Hilarious in parts, The Wolf is a play that hasn't decided if it's a farce or a drama says Catherine Love. 

Continuing British theatre’s current mood of rediscovery, Ferenc Molnar’s comedy The Wolf receives a playful new revival from theatre company Sturdy Beggars. In this rarely performed Hungarian classic, the neither witty nor handsome Eugene Keleman is consumed with jealousy, fearful that every man who crosses his path is ready to carry off his wife Vilma. Unable to openly declare his quite obvious love for her, he prepares to complete a lucrative business deal that he hopes will provide the financial security to tie her to him forever. But he hasn't counted on the reappearance of a mysterious figure from her past.

An awkward and sluggish opening in which two soldiers exchange dull banter is soon succeeded by an entertaining portrait of married life, with Brendan Jones and Katherine French convincingly depicting marital disharmony as the bickering Eugene and Vilma. Molnar’s script is at its best when light and playful, as is director Jamie Harper’s production. But when the argument between the couple grows fierce there is a grating touch of the hysterical, particularly in French’s occasionally shrill performance.

It is in the second act that this revival really comes into its own, however, as Molnar’s play slips into a surreal and heightened mini farce. Harper allows his cast to really let go, with Alexander Andreou as Vilma’s long lost lover revelling in the chance to take on a succession of increasingly outrageous personas, characterising the suppressed dreams and desires of the seemingly straight-laced Vilma. This scene also gives rein to the supporting cast, with some star comic turns from Josie Martin as a hysterically fainting countess and Daniel Addis and Andrew Mudie as a pair of servants.

After the chaos and hilarity of the farce segment, the play unfortunately fails to regain its direction, falling a little flat when the mood switches suddenly back to realism. There are some interesting ideas at play here, such as the difficulties of sustaining a faltering marriage, Vilma’s hidden undercurrents of fantasy and desire and the contrast of an idealised past and a very real present, but none of these are fully explored. Despite a strong central performance from Jones as a consistently agitated and despondent Eugene, the emotional moments of drama fail to match up to the comedy. 

Molnar is, as Sturdy Beggars inform us in their promotional material, one of Hungary’s best loved writers, but his work is little known or performed in this country, creating a real sense of the unknown. This is a feeling that never quite loosens its grip, as a play that teeters between farce and drama seems unable to make up its mind where to pitch itself. Often hilariously funny yet not quite an out-and-out comedy, The Wolf is an entertaining but indecisive piece of theatre. While it may never be clear quite where this is going, at least the journey is a scenic one.


The Wolf runs at Network Theatre until 3rd September. 



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