The Way of the World

by William Congreve

seen at the Donmar Warehouse on 19 April 2018

James Macdonald directs Geoffrey Streatfeild as Mirabell, Tom Mison as Fainall, Caroline Martin as Mrs Fainall, Justine Mitchell as Millamant and Haydn Gwynne as Lady Wishfort in this celebrated comedy from 1700, presented in its historical time with flowing wigs and lacy cuffs.

The language is polished and often dazzling, the social comment astute, the plot a vehicle for observing both cynical and heartfelt attempts to navigate the difficulties of relations between men and women. While urban and sub-aristocratic could be and often was portrayed as essentially the unscrupulous use of masculine power and influence to gain wealth through marriage, in this play Congreve contrasts the moral characters of the two friends Mirabell and Fainall, each of whom stands to gain from the woman (Millamant and Mrs Fainall respectively) he is connected with. Where Mirabell and Millamant are shown to be genuine in their affections, all the warmth has drained from the Fainall marriage and the husband is plotting merely for financial advantage, and in this production is shown up as a distinctly unpleasant person.

The Threepenny Opera

by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill

seen at the National Theatre (Olivier) on 24 June 2016

The production is a new adaptation by Simon Stephens directed by Rufus Norris and designed by Vicki Mortimer. It features Rory Kinnear as Macheath, Nick Holder as Peachum, Haydn Gwynne as Mrs Peachum, Rosalie Craig as Polly Peachum and Sharon Small as Jenny Driver.

Brecht's technique of alienating the audience from their conventional expectations of 'an evening at the theatre' is marvellously emphasised in this production, with the vast Olivier stage exposed in all its glory, flats and flights of stairs wheeled about by the cast, the flats often faced away from the front of the stage (showing all their struts) and just as frequently revealed to be utterly flimsy as various characters burst through them to enter a scene. Occasionally the revolve is cranked onto service by means of a giant lever wheeled to the front of the stage and laboriously 'worked' by an actor; on only one occasion is the drum used to bring a pre-constructed set up to stage level.