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Press views: Jeeves and Wooster | Press views: Jeeves and Wooster |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A West End vehicle for PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster characters has been received enthusiastically by critics. | A West End vehicle for PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster characters has been received enthusiastically by critics. |
The Evening Standard's reviewer called Perfect Nonsense "smart and crafty", while the Telegraph's said Wodehouse "would have loved" the production. | The Evening Standard's reviewer called Perfect Nonsense "smart and crafty", while the Telegraph's said Wodehouse "would have loved" the production. |
Richard E Grant, New Tricks star Amanda Redman and The Who's Roger Daltrey were among Tuesday's first night audience. | Richard E Grant, New Tricks star Amanda Redman and The Who's Roger Daltrey were among Tuesday's first night audience. |
The show stars Stephen Mangan as dim aristocrat Bertie Wooster and Matthew Macfadyen as his manservant Jeeves. | The show stars Stephen Mangan as dim aristocrat Bertie Wooster and Matthew Macfadyen as his manservant Jeeves. |
The three-man cast is completed by Mark Hadfield, who plays a variety of roles in a story based on the 1938 novel, The Code of the Woosters. | The three-man cast is completed by Mark Hadfield, who plays a variety of roles in a story based on the 1938 novel, The Code of the Woosters. |
Macfadyen also takes on a number of roles in Sean Foley's production, which sees Bertie attempt to present the action of the novel as an amateur stage play. | Macfadyen also takes on a number of roles in Sean Foley's production, which sees Bertie attempt to present the action of the novel as an amateur stage play. |
Speaking afterwards, former Spooks star Macfadyen said the show was "exhausting" but "exhilarating" to perform. | Speaking afterwards, former Spooks star Macfadyen said the show was "exhausting" but "exhilarating" to perform. |
"Your levels of concentration have to be so high," the actor told the BBC. "You can't drop the ball or slip for a bit." | "Your levels of concentration have to be so high," the actor told the BBC. "You can't drop the ball or slip for a bit." |
"It's a work-out," agreed Mangan, of Episodes and Green Wing fame. "There's only three of us in it so we are fully occupied every single minute. | "It's a work-out," agreed Mangan, of Episodes and Green Wing fame. "There's only three of us in it so we are fully occupied every single minute. |
"The idea is to make it look chaotic, when it's actually rigorously drilled and very precise." | "The idea is to make it look chaotic, when it's actually rigorously drilled and very precise." |
Mangan, though, played down suggestions that the pared-down cast was in some way emblematic of the UK's current climate of financial austerity. | Mangan, though, played down suggestions that the pared-down cast was in some way emblematic of the UK's current climate of financial austerity. |
"It's certainly producer-friendly, that's for sure," he told the BBC. "But we're on footballers' wages, so maybe it isn't." | "It's certainly producer-friendly, that's for sure," he told the BBC. "But we're on footballers' wages, so maybe it isn't." |
"We did it this way because we thought it would be fun," added Foley. "It wasn't to do with keeping costs down. | "We did it this way because we thought it would be fun," added Foley. "It wasn't to do with keeping costs down. |
"Every time I look at the show, I'm really surprised the Wodehouse estate allowed us to do it this way." | "Every time I look at the show, I'm really surprised the Wodehouse estate allowed us to do it this way." |
Here are excerpts from reviews of Perfect Nonsense, which continues at the Duke of York's in London until 8 March 2014. | Here are excerpts from reviews of Perfect Nonsense, which continues at the Duke of York's in London until 8 March 2014. |
What makes the show better than many Wodehouse adaptations is that much of the author's original words are used. | What makes the show better than many Wodehouse adaptations is that much of the author's original words are used. |
Some particularly glum fate is compared to "something that might have occurred to Ibsen in one of his less frivolous moments" [while] Bertie, on receiving some bad news, said it hit him like "one who has been picking daisies by the railway line and catches the 4.15 in the small of the back". | Some particularly glum fate is compared to "something that might have occurred to Ibsen in one of his less frivolous moments" [while] Bertie, on receiving some bad news, said it hit him like "one who has been picking daisies by the railway line and catches the 4.15 in the small of the back". |
Sean Foley's production may not be clutch-your-sides funny but it will have you smiling consistently, and at moments laughing aloud. | Sean Foley's production may not be clutch-your-sides funny but it will have you smiling consistently, and at moments laughing aloud. |
Read the full review here. | Read the full review here. |
With his glassy grin and an astonishing laugh that puts one in mind of a both a braying donkey and a door creaking open on rusty hinges, Stephen Mangan proves the perfect Wooster. | With his glassy grin and an astonishing laugh that puts one in mind of a both a braying donkey and a door creaking open on rusty hinges, Stephen Mangan proves the perfect Wooster. |
Matthew Macfadyen is equally fine as Jeeves, commanding, sepulchral and extremely strict in the matter of men's trouserings, no matter how fraught the situation may be. | Matthew Macfadyen is equally fine as Jeeves, commanding, sepulchral and extremely strict in the matter of men's trouserings, no matter how fraught the situation may be. |
There are some unfortunates who can't stick Wodehouse at any price, and fanatical admirers of the great man may feel that this show takes too many liberties with the master. | There are some unfortunates who can't stick Wodehouse at any price, and fanatical admirers of the great man may feel that this show takes too many liberties with the master. |
But I suspect that Wodehouse himself would have loved this production, and there is no doubt that it captures the dotty, sunlit innocence of his work with panache. | But I suspect that Wodehouse himself would have loved this production, and there is no doubt that it captures the dotty, sunlit innocence of his work with panache. |
Read the full review here. | Read the full review here. |
Although the plot is thinner than an ant's eyebrow, there's plenty of clever and silly business, buoyed by the expert performances of Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan. | Although the plot is thinner than an ant's eyebrow, there's plenty of clever and silly business, buoyed by the expert performances of Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan. |
Director Sean Foley is adept at farce, and Alice Power's designs are ingenious. | Director Sean Foley is adept at farce, and Alice Power's designs are ingenious. |
At times the production feels like a glitzy star vehicle, perhaps a bit too pleased with itself. Yet mostly this is smart and crafty stuff. | At times the production feels like a glitzy star vehicle, perhaps a bit too pleased with itself. Yet mostly this is smart and crafty stuff. |
Read the full review here. | Read the full review here. |
How do you dramatise a sublime novel like PG Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters? The answer, in this new version by the Goodale Brothers, is to turn it into a play supposedly written by Bertie Wooster himself. | |
The result is an effortful and occasionally inspired piece with strong echoes - unsurprisingly, given that it is directed by Sean Foley - of the comedy duo The Right Size and their Morecambe and Wise tribute, The Play What I Wrote. | |
For me, the best bits are those when you hear the authentic voice of Wodehouse himself. | |
Read the full review here. | |
This new three-hander by Robert and David Goodale, hyper-inventively directed by Sean Foley, goes down the route of meta-theatricality, laying a sort of 39 Steps approach across the improvisatory template of The Play What I Wrote. | This new three-hander by Robert and David Goodale, hyper-inventively directed by Sean Foley, goes down the route of meta-theatricality, laying a sort of 39 Steps approach across the improvisatory template of The Play What I Wrote. |
Stephen Mangan's red-jacketed Wooster, baring his teeth and braying like a demented donkey, is therefore lumbered with an audience to whom, on an empty and under-populated stage, he is obliged to recount a drastically filleted but basically accurate version of PG Wodehouse's 1938 comedy classic The Code of the Woosters. | Stephen Mangan's red-jacketed Wooster, baring his teeth and braying like a demented donkey, is therefore lumbered with an audience to whom, on an empty and under-populated stage, he is obliged to recount a drastically filleted but basically accurate version of PG Wodehouse's 1938 comedy classic The Code of the Woosters. |
The show's brilliant joke is that the implacable Jeeves, whose interventions are only implied at leisure in the original, is translated into a quick-change artist in the cause of smoothing out the creases, and the crises, in the story. | The show's brilliant joke is that the implacable Jeeves, whose interventions are only implied at leisure in the original, is translated into a quick-change artist in the cause of smoothing out the creases, and the crises, in the story. |
Foley's production probably errs on the side of too much scenic and stage-effects business. But it seems churlish to complain about a show that is so fertile and generous in its presentation, and so spiritedly performed. | Foley's production probably errs on the side of too much scenic and stage-effects business. But it seems churlish to complain about a show that is so fertile and generous in its presentation, and so spiritedly performed. |
Read the full review here. | Read the full review here. |