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The Duchess of Padua
Theatre: Fringe
Also on at Pentameters Theatre
- Brotherly Love, Until Sun Feb 26
Shows on tonight
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Angel Theatre
- Macbeth, Millfield Theatre
- Excellent Choice, Old Vic Tunnels
- My Father and Other Superheroes, Albany Theatre
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- Thirsty, New Wimbledon Studio
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Time Out says Rate it
Rafe Beckley's abridged production of Oscar Wilde 1883's blank-verse tragedy appears to represent the first time the play has been staged in the UK in over a century, so if you're a fan of the great Dublin wit you won't want to miss it. Not that it's particularly witty or Wildean: this tale of Renaissance realpolitik, revenge and big love is about as far removed from the sophisticated social ironies of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' as you can get.
The dramatist affects the high Jacobean manner but the results are more cold pastiche than hot homage. Shakespearean archetypes stand behind the action - especially Lady Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet - but the smoothness of the verse means Wilde's characters never burn with the knotty tormented passion of their dramatic forebears. Basically, it's Victorian melodrama.
Not that Beckley's staging is without its compensations, not least Alexis Forte's atmospheric design and Peter Gerald's hilarious turn as the Duke of Padua, a pantomime villain who glories in being hated by the ordinary folk and comes over all Marie Antoinette when the people complain that they have to drink stagnant water, exclaiming, 'They should drink wine!' It's just a pity he gets killed off before the interval.
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Leonie Scott-Matthews has been the driving force behind Hampstead's Pentameters Theatre since 1968. She still proudly heads up the 60-seat pub...
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Four of us went to see the play tonight - and thoroughly enjoyed it! We thought the story was engaging, the direction well-pitched and the performances sound. I would recommend this production
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