Review of Quality Street at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Before J. M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan he was actually more famous for the now little know farce Quality Street. Written in 1901 and set during Napoleonic times about a hundred years before that, this is a rather fabulous if extremely lightweight play. The play itself is now hardly ever performed, with this production from Northern Broadside and the New Vic Theatre one of the very few professional productions since the Second World War. including only one since then in London. It feels very unfair on the play considering that it is rather good entertainment, and nice to have a charge from the same endlessly regurgitated shows that come round and round like a bad penny.

The story tells of two sisters who start a school "for genteel children", following one of the sister's "suiter" heading off to serve in the war. That suiter Captain Valentine Brown however wasn't really interested in the sister Phoebe Throssel though, or was he? Much confusion ensues when Phoebe's niece Livvy "appears" culminating in much hilarity.

In addition to J. M. Barrie's original play, this new version from director Laurie Sansom captures anecdotes and play opinions from Halifax workers at the Quality Street chocolate factory that this play inspired the name of. It is an interesting and entertaining aspect of the show and gives modern commentary upon the play as the cast members play representations of these people in the show. They open the proceedings, provide set changes and further play comments, and finally discuss the play at the end with the characters of Barrie's play. It is a unique premise and generally works extremely well.

Leading the cast as Phoebe is a delightfully strong performance from Paula Lane, sharp clarity of delivery, and full to the brim of the period, with the exception of her brilliant anachronistic dance moves. Aron Julius as Captain Brown has a great towering presence, vocally strong and cutting a fine figure. His comic touches also are sublime, with a first-class moment in his removal of Livvy late in the second act.

Louisa-May Parker gives a suitably mousey performance as Susan, Phoebe's sister, and her reaction and handling of that Livvy moment (it is the best scene of the play, so my apologies for the second mention) is totally priceless and resulted in tears of laughter from this reviewer. Gilly Tompkins as Patty, and indeed factory worker Barbara, is also hilarious, effortlessly stealing every scene she appears in. The rest of the cast also delight in this very strong company, with no bad egg among them.

Jessica Worrall's set design is a curiosity, nicely dressed with furniture, albeit, somewhat plain at times, but structured by a very strange metal framework including gates. It works, but only just. Where perhaps the lavish beauty of the piece is lost on the set, it is very much found in the work of the costume design team, particularly the gowns for the ball designed like the chocolate wrappers of Quality Street. A nice touch. Add to this, some rather curious, but entertaining child puppets, and you have a nicely visually appealing show.

Quality Street is lovely entertainment, and it is a crying shame that it is rarely performed. It attempts nothing ground-breaking, but just simply entertains in a gentle way, but also provides a few truly cracking moments of humour. A sweetly delightful piece of theatre.

Absolutely spiffing and relaxing entertainment!
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Tuesday 4th April 2023 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

Quality Street is at Royal & Derngate until 8th April 2023.

For further details about the Royal & Derngate and to book tickets see their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Production photos: Andrew Billington

Review of A View from the Bridge at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Although writer Arthur Miller died 15 years ago, and last published a play almost 30, he remains a force to be reckoned with, and you are probably still never far from production of one of his works, albeit one of probably just four from his back catalogue of 33 plays. If you pressed someone to choose his best, they would probably more often than not say The Crucible , because A: they studied it, or B: they have actually seen it. As for best though, maybe not. Perhaps that lies with the simpler format of A View from a Bridge , the gritty tale of immigration in the fifties. So, does this new version, a co-production between Royal & Derngate and York Theatre Royal, do it justice? In 1950s New York, hardworking longshoreman Eddie Carbone lives a simple life with his wife and niece deep in an immigrant community. When two of her Sicilian cousins arrives, slowly Eddie's life begins to change forever. In a theatre world where life is rarely simple anymore and directors of...

Review of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

As the house lights came up at the interval of my viewing of Brave New World, an older chap in the row behind me quite audibly said to his theatre companion "that was rubbbish". I could at that moment only assume that he was wearing one of those rather stylish visual goggles that the cast wore during the show to view something else entirely as "rubbish" was far from my thoughts. It could of course be that he just didn't get it as science fiction might not be his thing. This is one of those impressive things with the constantly inventive Made In Northampton series, it boldly tries everything and maybe if you, like this chap come to all of them, they are not always going to work for you. Adapted as a new commission by Dawn King from Aldous Huxley's 1931 novel, Brave New World is the neglected compatriot of George Orwell's 1984. It is however a much different affair in substance, relating to genetically created humanity and the socially controlling Soma...

Review of Hi-De-Hi at The Deco, Northampton

I was a fan of Hi-De-Hi in the eighties and in actual fact a fan of many of those very much of their time comedies. Hi-De-Hi was a bright and breezy and overly familiar show having ended up at many a holiday in the Maplins equivalent of Butlins, albeit not the fifties setting, but with very little changed in the decades anyway. However, we have moved on a bit since these eighties days, so does Croft and Perry's comedy still cut the mustard now? The answer is yes and no, a lot of the humour is still fun and there are many a chuckle moments, the characters also are still bold and fun enough to provide some great entertainment. However, with these characters lie the first problem with an acting group doing a show like this. Anyone familiar with the show and its nine series run will have the characters so indelibly marked in their head and this offers no freedom for a performer to make that character their own, they are just setting out to copy someone. Yes, a challenge, and w...

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog