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Lord
Arthur Savile's Crime The scene opens with our hero, nice but dim Lord Arthur Savile, as happy as a sand boy as he prepares his forthcoming marriage to the lovely Sybil. Soon, however, a snake enters this Eden in the shape of a gifted chiromancer (this means 'palm-reader', we learn; pat yourself on the back if you already knew this) who predicts that Arthur will one day commit a terrible crime which will surely jeopardize his matrimonial bliss… How does a man behave when he knows his own fate in advance? In Macbeth this situation is the basis of tragedy; Arthur's bungling attempts to avoid sullying his marriage by nobly committing the inevitable crime before he walks down the aisle are the stuff of knockabout comedy in this entertaining production by the Oxford Theatre Guild. An exploding umbrella, a succulent and deadly pink chocolate and an eccentric German anarchist all get roped into the increasingly absurd plot. We are treated to much broad physical farce, including some well-directed visual set pieces (a scene featuring an exploding rubber ball was executed with aplomb), and - unsurprisingly for a play based on an Oscar Wilde short story - the dialogue is consistently a joy. The one-liners are impeccably witty and quotable, and there is a delicious vein of black humour underlying what, at first, seemed to be a conventional drawing-room comedy. (The drawing room itself, along with the period costumes, are well realised: praise must go to whoever found such an excellent chaise-longue.) There is also the lightest current of social and political satire which remains remarkably pertinent - slight digs at the unelected House of Lords and the state of the British railways could have been written yesterday and drew appreciative laughter from the audience. A more than competent cast do justice to the sparkling script, displaying fine comic timing and a gift for caricature. As the central character, Alex Nicholls has a lot of work to do, and succeeds admirably in sustaining Arthur as an amiable and engaging figure. John O'Connor is also excellent as Arthur's manservant Baines. Strong casting is important here because the relationship between Baines and Arthur (a sort of Jeeves and Wooster duo, avant la lettre), is at the heart of this play - yet while Baines resembles Jeeves in his acerbic wit and literary bent, he differs from Wodehouse's character in being all too frequently as hapless as his master. Special mention must also go to OTG debutant Alex Colman as the slimy, Uriah Heep-like chiromancer, for a confident and promising performance. Gloria Deacon was also particularly enjoyable as the icy battleaxe Lady Julia Merton, whose impressive line in withering put-downs would make her a good host on Have I Got News For You. For anyone who needs some light relief after the hard business of Christmas shopping, this makes for fine escapist entertainment - clever, witty and full of laughter. I left the theatre with more than my usual quota of sweetness and light, wishing - not for the first time - that I was even half as witty as Oscar. George Tew, 9.12.03 |
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