‘The Beaux’ Stratagem’ is set in Lichfield, Staffordshire
where we are familiarised with two young gentlemen, Aimwell and Archer who have
ventured to the countryside after losing all their money in London. When they
arrive at Boniface’s Inn, the landlord, Boniface (Lloyd Hutchinson) and his
daughter, Cherry (Amy Morgan) welcome them in and give them an understanding of
the prospects that could be on offer. Their arrival causes intrigue from
Boniface and highwayman, Gibbet (Chook Sibtain) and his companions Hounslow
(Mark Rose) and Bagshot (Esh Alladi) who assume that they are quite wealthy individuals.
Moreover, Dorinda (Pippa Bennett-Warner) and her sister-in-law, Mrs Sullen are
also interested in them too and over the course of the performance, we realise
that Mrs Sullen is unhappy with her nuptials to heavy drinker husband, Mr
Sullen (Richard Henders). When Mrs Sullen and Archer meet each other for the
first time, there appears to be immediate feelings for one another as does
Dorinda with Aimwell. Throughout the show, the French army have been imprisoned
in Lichfield where Count Bellar (Timothy Watson) and the priest, Foigard (Jamie
Beamish) we soon learn that Fiogard has been lying about his true
nationality. At the house of Lady
Bountiful (Jane Booker), the mother of Mr Sullen and Dorinda, Archer and Mrs Sullen
conjure up a plan to allow Mrs Sullen and her unloving husband to get a
divorce. To do so she asks Gipsy (Molly Gromadzki) to send a telegram to her
brother, Sir Charles Freeman (Nicholas Khan) about the state of her marriage.
Aimwell decides to tell Dorinda the truth about his lack of finances and Archer
does the same with Mrs Sullen too and thankfully they do not mind whatsoever.
One night in the house of Lady Bountiful, the highwaymen try to steal some of
Mr and Mrs Sullen’s possessions and a battle soon commences and the highwaymen
obviously loose the fight and are captured and led away by Scrub (Pearce
Quigley). At the finale, Sir Charles Freeman enters and forces Mr Sullen to
divorce his wife and for her to retain her fortunes. Archer and Mrs Sullen
become romantically involved and Dorina and Aimwell do the exact same thing. Farquhar’s narrative is marvellously
rib-tickling in terms of how the battles, false nationality and romantic activities
combine together to present something so funny.
One found the performances by the company of, ‘The Beaux’
Stratagem’ to be radiantly depicted through careful voice work by Jeanette
Nelson and Michaela Kennen and movement direction by Jonathan Goddard. Samuel Barnett is wonderful as untrue,
Aimwell; chiefly at the moment where he is having a shot at tempting Dorinda to
become his partner, additionally, his friendship with Archer is compelling to
see. Geoffrey Streatfield is fabulous as Mrs Sullen’s saviour, Archer;
especially when he talks about how his love with Mrs Sullen could prove
problematic due to the circumstances but with repeated tries this comes into
fruition at the end of the play.
Susannah Fielding is impressive as Mrs Sullen; such as how depressed she
seems when she explains how her marriage to a drunken man is disgusting e.g.
when he comes home drunk at the early hours of the morning.
Simon Godwin’s direction is grand here as he has been able
to interconnect all the character’s stories together in a seamless manner and
his revival of this classic play does not disappoint as the ere are both
humorous and some emotive scenes present. Lizzie Clachan’s set and costume
designs are immensely opulent as the attention to detail in depicting the era
of the show is tremendous, plus the transformation from inn to lavish country
manor was very decent indeed. Overall, the experience of, ‘The Beaux’ Stratagem’
to be undeniably pleasing and exceedingly watchable and a brilliant selection
to include in the theatre’s repertoire.
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