The Recruiting Officer was an ambitious amateur production of a difficult play, and The Studio Theatre Club put on a performance to be proud of.
A character-driven 'Restoration Comedy' from 1706, the play follows an army recruiting officer and his friend’s trials and tribulations as they attempt, or do not attempt, to woo their respective ladies, while using everything within their power to get the unsuspecting folk of Shropshire to take the King’s shilling. Identities are hidden, wires are crossed, everybody deceives each other and it all comes out rosy in the end.
Some really fantastic costumes helped to set the chosen time period (The Peninsular Wars), and the ever-adorable small stage of The Unicorn Theatre was well used with simple and unintuitive props that never got in the way. This allowed some really good acting to bring life to the play's characters. Captain Plume (Jon Viner) was cheekily good-natured, Thomas and Coster (Kath Leighton & Brian Macken) were charmingly simple, and all the other local actors did a fantastic job of maintaining hilarious yet non-farcical accents. Special mention must go to Stephen Briggs for his performance as Captain Brazen - he inspired a constant smile and was a definite crowd-pleaser.
The Recruiting Officer is a difficult play. It is very wordy, and the old English of George Farquhar relies on long and complicated sentences to get the message across. Whilst there was some inspired individual acting on the part of much of the cast, and though they had learned their lines immaculately, the characters sometimes failed to engage with each other as they might, the result being that some of the tensest and funniest scenes seemed to lack bite. But amateur theatre cannot be confined to pantomimes, and the bravery of putting on such a difficult play is laudable. Being able to bring forth a host of wonderful characters is even more so. So despite being an ambitious choice, The Recruiting Officer was a genuine and warming play, and well worth anyone’s time.
George Farquhar wrote The Recruiting Officer in 1706, and the Studio Theatre Club do a good job of making the often wordy text accessible in their latest play at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon.
It’s a Restoration comedy following the exploits of two womanising officers who end up being captured by the women they truly love, and the recruiting officer who will stop at nothing to bribe, force or trick new recruits into his regiment. It’s a play that’s not often performed, but last night in the Unicorn theatre it wasn’t obvious why, because it certainly provided more than a few laughs along the way.
Many of these laughs come from the various nefarious practices employed by the recruiting officer of the title, Sergeant Kite (Debs McKenna) to enlist often reluctant men (and women!) into an army desperate for new recruits. The scene in which Kite disguises himself as a fortune teller is particularly effective. Casting a woman in this role was a little confusing, however, especially as the plot involves a woman disguised as a man…
Although the production suffered a little from some first night nerves, there were some good performances, especially from some of the smaller parts – the scene between the two ‘simple country people’ Costar Pearmain (Brian Macken) and Thomas Appletree (Kath Leighton) was nicely judged and staged, and the country brother and sister Bullock and Rose (Alistair Mackay and Amy Wackett) created some believable sibling peevishness. Stephen Briggs seemed to enjoy himself hugely as the boastful yet cowardly idiot Captain Brazen (a lovely part for a good comic actor), and employed some nice physical touches. Nigel Tait was also believable as the deceived but ultimately good-hearted local justice Mr Balance.
The action moves along at a good pace, and scene changes are swift and aided by atmospheric pipe and drum music. The audience were appreciative and the show can only get better as the cast relax into their roles. A good evening’s entertainment!