| |
In
London, in the early 1630s, women are not allowed on stage so female
roles must be taken by boys. John Shank, an actor himself, runs a
combination of talent agency, boarding house and stage school for
such boys.
Shank, played marvellously by Tom Berrigan, is a strange contradiction:
cynical but soft-hearted, buying and selling boys but showing genuine
affection for them. The play focuses on two of these boys in particular:
Honyman is played with flair by Will Tosh as a star getting too tall
and too
old to continue playing women, who is idolised by new boy Hammerton
(a
convincingly twitchy David Sutcliffe), considered 'too girlish to
be a
fairy'. Their lives, and their relationships with each other and with
Shank
are changed forever by Shank's attempts to repay his debts.
'Cressida'
is a new play by distinguished playwright Nicholas Wright.
According to the programme, this is only the second ever production,
and the
first amateur one. It seems surprising, then, that it takes place
in such an
unprepossessing venue: a small room deep in the (very pretty) grounds
of
Corpus Christi College. It is a tribute to the actors that this is
the only
incongruous element, as they do full justice to a brilliantly powerful
and
witty script. This is no mean feat, as all but one of the characters
are or
were actors themselves. The cast succeed in portraying these flamboyant,
often melodramatic people while still allowing glimpses of the personalities
beneath the facades.
This
is an excellent production deserving of a grander venue and a wider
audience. Thoroughly recommended.
Alex
Williams 21/11/01
|
