The Country Wife

It’s always a pleasure to visit Harlow Theatre Company and although this play was new to me, I felt confident that an evening of excellent entertainment lay ahead and I was not disappointed.

Written by William Wycherley in 1675, this is a restoration comedy which must be up there with the best in the genre. The upper classes are revelling in their freedom from the puritanical years and are enjoying a cultural revolution with the pursuit of pleasure, in all its many forms, appearing to occupy a great deal of their time.

The script could have proved challenging but not so here where the talented cast were more than capable of keeping the dialogue flowing, resulting in a good pace being kept up throughout

Simple dance routines accompanied by loud disco music were used to welcome the cast on stage at the beginning of the play and to indicate scene change.  This appeared to be rather bonkers at first but worked extremely well.

Georgia Bryson was brilliant as Margery Pinchwife. the titular country wife confined to her rooms by her husband, lest she fall under the influence of the temptations of Soho.  Margery of course has other ideas and with her comical country accent and wide-eyed innocence, she takes every opportunity to explore the outside world, with hilarious consequences. Jack Pinchwife, determined to keep his young wife to himself was very well played by Kevin Exley.

An excellent portrayal by Joe Bishop of Harry Horner, a notorious playboy, while Alfi Howard was obviously enjoying playing the rather ridiculous Sparkish, about to be married to Alithea Pinchwife, who was nicely played by Jess Ricketts.  Meanwhile her maidservant Lucy, a good performance by Anna Turnell, sought to keep us up to date with the goings on, and in so doing, shed light on the shallowness and hypocrisy of the period.

 Michelle Brisa Jimenez shone as Lady Fidget.  Swishing around in her gorgeous crinolines she was the leading light of three women who gave the impression of being morally superior but were in fact anything but!  Her accomplices, Dainty Fidget and Mistress Squeamish were suitably portrayed by Alyssa Upton and Helga Dove.

Barry Bowen is a very versatile actor and his role as Sir Jasper Fidget adds yet another dimension to his acting credits.  Jake Hannam as The Quack and Jordyn Linklater as Frank Harcourt completed the excellent line up.

The finale saw the cast come together in an absolutely amazing tableau.

This was a very well directed production. Acting throughout was of a very high standard with every member of the cast giving a top notch performance.

Congratulations to the ladies of the wardrobe on the wonderfully detailed and in some cases sumptuous costumes. 

The standing set had been cleverly designed and proved to be extremely adaptable.  Lighting and sound were good.

Congratulations HTC for choosing to perform this hilarious romp, giving a glimpse into a period of history, when the shackles came off.

Thank you for inviting me.  We had a very enjoyable evening.

 

 

 

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