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The Provoked Wife
Jul. 21st, 2019 02:11 pmThe Provoked Wife is a play by John Vanbrugh, who later went on to be the architect of Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. It was on at the Swan Theatre, which is part of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. I had seen Jonathan Slinger was in the play and since SM also likes Slinger we went together.
The play was written in 1696 and was apparently extremely popular for over 200 years. It has a lot of elements of Restoration Comedy, and having learnt a bit about them last year, it was interesting to be able to recognise them. Neither of us was particularly struck with the play. When it began I felt really engaged, but that gradually slipped away, and by the end I was hoping it would finish. Having read the reviews I've now seen that that was the general opinion - it would have been better if they'd cut half an hour, and left out the songs. There was nothing wrong with the songs, but they didn't progress the play at all. There's an article in the programme written by the director Phillip Breen, who says that many subsequent playwrights have borrowed from this play, citing Pinter as a great example. I really don't like Pinter.
As for the actors, Jonathan Slinger was excellent as Sir John Brute, so much so that at times I almost felt sorry for him. Steve Nicolson, as Sir John's valet, Rasor, made good use of a small role. And I liked John Hodgkinson as Heartfree. Caroline Quentin played Lady Fancyfull, and we both felt there was too much of her. And Les Dennis played Colonel Bully, but that was such a small part it could have been anyone.
Because it's a thrust stage, servants had to bring the furniture out everytime there was a scene change, which started to grate by the end, when there were items which weren't essential for the scene, but were simply there to hammer home a point.
We were in the cheap seats at the top, and since the play hadn't sold out we were able to move along and have plenty of space. I was glad we didn't have to sit cramped up in some of the other seats for so long.
It was a pleasant afternoon, we hadn't paid very much for the tickets, it was good to see Jonathan Slinger on stage again, but like SM I'm no longer enthusiastic to keep going to Stratford.
The play was written in 1696 and was apparently extremely popular for over 200 years. It has a lot of elements of Restoration Comedy, and having learnt a bit about them last year, it was interesting to be able to recognise them. Neither of us was particularly struck with the play. When it began I felt really engaged, but that gradually slipped away, and by the end I was hoping it would finish. Having read the reviews I've now seen that that was the general opinion - it would have been better if they'd cut half an hour, and left out the songs. There was nothing wrong with the songs, but they didn't progress the play at all. There's an article in the programme written by the director Phillip Breen, who says that many subsequent playwrights have borrowed from this play, citing Pinter as a great example. I really don't like Pinter.
As for the actors, Jonathan Slinger was excellent as Sir John Brute, so much so that at times I almost felt sorry for him. Steve Nicolson, as Sir John's valet, Rasor, made good use of a small role. And I liked John Hodgkinson as Heartfree. Caroline Quentin played Lady Fancyfull, and we both felt there was too much of her. And Les Dennis played Colonel Bully, but that was such a small part it could have been anyone.
Because it's a thrust stage, servants had to bring the furniture out everytime there was a scene change, which started to grate by the end, when there were items which weren't essential for the scene, but were simply there to hammer home a point.
We were in the cheap seats at the top, and since the play hadn't sold out we were able to move along and have plenty of space. I was glad we didn't have to sit cramped up in some of the other seats for so long.
It was a pleasant afternoon, we hadn't paid very much for the tickets, it was good to see Jonathan Slinger on stage again, but like SM I'm no longer enthusiastic to keep going to Stratford.
