THEATRE REVIEW - The Country Wife
- Posted on October 25, 2007 1:02 PM
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The Country Wife
The Theatre Royal – Haymarket
Review By Zarina Raja
Anything in comparison to Rent Remixed was going to be good after that joke of a performance, but Rent aside, The Country Wife entertained and tickled, restoring my faith in West End Theatre.
The Haymarket Theatre lay around me dramatically draped in gold architecture, and omitting a delicious British richness that worked well with the theme of The Country Wife. Like debutantes of the 16th century, we sat and waited for William Wycherley’s play, written in 1675 and still managing to drag a laugh from its modern day audience. Although it was deemed shocking in its time for the numerous references to sex, The Country Wife had nothing on its 21st Century audience. This light hearted, romp comedy merely teased onlookers and taunted them with cheeky innuendos, creating a hugely comical theatre piece.
The Country Wife is set in London, but draws continuous comparisons to the country side. The play is centred on the newly married Pinchwife, who is desperate to keep a firm grasp over his young and naïve wife from the country, who, he fears, maybe led into the arms of a London play boy if he lets her step foot out of the house. By fobbing off his friends and telling them she is ugly, Pinchwife manages to keep her a secret for a while, but local tart Horner has already spotted her and declared his love for her.
The devious, but likeable Horner, played by Toby Stephens, has ingeniously spread the rumour of his own impotence to trick the weary husbands of London in to taking pity on him and not fear him as competition - a cunning plan indeed. Horner is the epitome of what the ridiculous, paranoid and ludicrous Pinchwife (played by David Haig of The Thin Blue Line and Four Weddings and a Funeral) fears.
The Country Wife spins largely on the differences between men and women, but accentuates their pitfalls and exaggerates them to the point of hilarity – like that with the character of Pinchwife. The set is plain but clever, and during a fifteen second rotation, manages to completely change in atmosphere and situation. The costumes are perfectly coordinated with their surroundings; Horner strides about in a long blue coat that matches with the colour of the wall in his house portraying him as a cool and laid back charcter. Pinchbeck is dressed like a man who woke up and put everything on backwards, which suited his stumbling mannerisms and maniac like expressions. Margery, Pinchbeck’s wife melts into the pink background in the room that she remains confined to, coveredf in a pale silk dressing gown and lightly rouged cheeks accentuating her innocence and simplicity. Then, there are the three ladies (and wives of others) who fall for Horner’s swaggering charms, and are all dressed in maroon and diamonds, sporting a voluptuous cleavage. They resemble a flock of bridesmaids at a wedding, desperate for a guest to have their wicked way with them.
Overall, The Country Wife is a classic piece of restoration comedy with naughty puns, embellished personalities and an underlying historical theme of Wycherley’s society between men and women. What really makes the play worth of praise is David Haig’s uproarious and appropriate performance as Pinchwife. He will have you chuckling whenever he is on the stage, even when he is not speaking or even moving. His face is funny, the top of his head is funny, his gasping voice is funny…you get my drift?
Get your tickets for The Country Wife here.
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