Raving
The
Hampstead Theatre, November 6, 2013
A
lovely Welsh country home, a few too many glass of wine here and there and a
shady bottle of breast milk and you have the makings of fine English Comedy. Raving at the Hampstead is not first
class drama, no. The title is very apt, this show is Raving mad in the best
way.
It
had a slow start, with the lights coming up on Briony and Keith as they fight
and moan and generally annoy the heck out of each other and the audience.
Before long two other couples join them and the ‘weekend holiday’ commences.
Each
pairing has their own little quarks, Sarah Hyland and Robert Webb as the hosts
of the gathering, Rosy and Ross, put on a lovely show as a perfect upper-middle
class couple. At one point, while the more unstable character of Briony, as
played by Tamzin Outhwaite, has a spat with her partner, Rosy has her head on
Ross shoulder as they look on patronizingly. It’s no wonder Briony
simultaneously hates and envies them, while she and her partner struggle just
to ‘raise the shower head.’ And just to keep things interesting, Serena and
Charles join the party, bringing along shotguns and cut-glass accents.
Actually
Charles, your average upper-upper, former army type, as played by Nicholas
Rowe, was probably one of my favorite characters, along with his wife, played
by Issy Van Randwyck. Somehow it has become the norm in today’s comedy for the
oldest couples to be the randiest. It has started to become a bit of a cliché,
but Rowe and Van Randwyck had the audience roaring with laughter. From Charles’
complete disregard for sensitivity to Serena’s devilish sense of humor in Act
II, these two were a wonderful comedic pair.
As
always, Robert Webb in his wonderfully awkward and strangely special way, left
me laughing while extremely uncomfortable in the best way. Sarah Hadland also
as his other half, gave a touching performance of Rosy as a very confident
woman, whose cracks may just be starting to show. The pair was a great foil to
Keith and Briony – almost switching places as the play went forward.
While
it will not be the most intelligent night out at the theatre you may have this
season, it will definitely be fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that
loudly in a theatre. The Hampstead Theatre’s production of Raving is a night of good fun, great laughs, and some heartfelt moments
of true sincerity that sneak up on you.
No comments:
Post a Comment