I was extremely excited to go see Northern Broadsides’ adaptation of Goldsmith’s 18th century laughing comedy ‘She Stoops to Conquer’, I studied it at sixth form but unfortunately never had the pleasure of seeing it performed on stage. Flamboyant characters, comedic genius and above all complete absurdity were what I expected. I was not disappointed. Conrad Nelson completely brought to life this classic pastoral comedy whilst also giving it a contemporary edge.
The plot centres on Mr Hardcastle’s home in the countryside where he is expecting the company of two Londoners, Marlow (Oliver Gomm), who Mr Hardcastle (Howard Chadwick) aims to marry to his daughter Kate, and Hastings (Guy Lewis) Marlow’s trusted companion. However, as a result of deceit and misunderstanding, the visit does not go to plan with Marlow mistaking Mr Hardcastle’s home for an inn and its occupants as simple Inn keepers. Marlow finds himself shy and trembling among women of high stature but confident around those who are of ‘low’ origins. This key flaw in Marlow’s character leads Kate Hardcastle (Hannah Edwards) to deceive Marlow into thinking she is a modest barmaid so that she can witness his true nature, and hopefully allow him to fall in love with her without his shyness getting in the way.
Jessica Worrall was successful in her attempts to ‘bring the exterior world inside’ through the use of folding screens covered with enlarged digital prints of Gainsborough’s landscapes, which perfectly captured the rustic nature of the countryside. The antiquity of the setting was further enhanced by the sporting trophies of dead animals, which were cluttered across the stage. However, whilst the design of the stage superbly fulfilled its role in portraying the rural countryside, the dead animal trophies almost turned the stage into a temple of male bravado. With the title of the play being ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ it seemed quite ironic that such a masculine aspect was adopted for the decoration of the set.
The costumes worn by the cast reminded me of the rococo fashion that was popular during the Enlightenment era with the use of both bright fabrics (Miss Hardcastle’s florescent pink number) and eccentric patterns – some costumes using more than one animal print at one time. Whilst I must admit animal print is a somewhat daring fashion statement, the fabulous thing about each costume was that it perfectly represented the character it was worn by. The animal print for example was used on the costume of Tony Lumpkin (Jon Trenchard) who was by far the most comical and flamboyant character in the entire play. From singing a jolly tune in The Three Pigeons Tavern to expressing his ‘love’ (which one might mistake as lust) of Bet Bouncer, it seemed that the dashing leopard print trousers were a physical emblem of everything the character epitomised; French frippery, wit and above all mischief.
This leads me on to the issue of over-acting, whilst Jon Trenchard successfully created a safe balance between flamboyancy and severity when acting the role of Tony Lumpkin, this cannot be said for Oliver Gomm who made for rather an uncomfortable watch during the first act of the play. One scene in particular that comes to mind, is the ‘interview’ between Marlow and Kate whereby they are introduced for the first time. Mr Gomm’s over use of physical acting, such as his knee twitches and trembling in order to present his internal shyness and incompetence when talking to certain women unfortunately, at first glance seemed like he was trying too hard and made this classic play seem more like a pantomime. However, whilst this was my initial thought, my view changed dramatically by the second half of the play. Mr Gomm’s character transformed from being a trembling mess to a proper gentlemen in the second half. Marlow, talking to who he believes to be the barmaid, became noticeably more confident which served as a skilful mechanism for portraying the true extent of Marlow’s inherent flaw. The scene also succeeded in providing a comic moment of dramatic irony given that Marlow was actually conversing with Kate Hardcastle.
I can’t finish my review without making reference to the brilliant musicality that was apparent throughout the course of the play. In this regard I must take my hat off to the Musical Director Rebekah Hughes who was so creative with her use of music. The first scene where music unmistakably makes an impact would be at the hearty Three Pigeons Tavern where the ‘Squire’, as they call Tony Lumpkin, leads the rest of the tavern dwellers in a song that embodies the vigour of life in the country. What astounded me wasn’t only that the whole of the cast possessed incredible voices, but also the clever use of instruments on stage. The song in the Three Pigeons was a perfect example of this: its ambitious requirements were effectively realised by the quintet of actors who simultaneously sang harmony and played a selection of instruments. Even though the song is intended to portray the crude and loud nature of a tavern, the harmonies and the skill of the musicians themselves created an element of beauty and, as such, the superiority of the country was exquisitely encapsulated.