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THE WAY OF THE WORLD by William Congreve
Venue: Greenwich 1984
Director: Giles Havergal



Cast


WOMEN
LADY WISHFORT
Enemy to Mirabell for having falsely pretended to love her
AVIS BUNNAGE
MRS FAINALL
Daughter to Lady Wishfort, Wife to Fainall ex-Friend to Mirabell
JULIE LEGRAND
MILLAMANT
Niece to Lady Wishfort and loves Mirabell
PAOLA DIONISOTTI
MRS MARWOOD
Friend to Fainall and loves Mirabell
ANN MITCHELL
FOIBLE
Woman to Lady Wishfort
JOHANNA KIRBY
MINCING JILL SPURRIER
MEN
FAINALL
In love with Mrs Marwood
CIARAN HINDS
MIRABELL
In love with Millamant
RUPERT FRAZER
WITWOUD
Follower of Millament
JOHN GOULD
PETULANT
Follower of Millament
RICHARD REES
SIR WIFULL WITWOUD
Half brother to Witwoud, Nephew to Lady Wishfort
DAVID FOXXE
WAITWELL
Servant to Mirabell
ROBERT GWILYM
With DARRYL GODDARD
GARY ROSS
COLIN WELL

Review

The high watermark of restoration comedy takes a little time to arrive at Greenwich, where Giles Havergal has directed Congreve’s The Way of the World with a company which, almost without exception, have been associated with Glasgow Citizens. The delay might be due to Sue Blane's black-and-white setting, which is not only initially distracting but is covered in manuscript, even down to the chairs.  Or to the three mysterious lawyers in black gowns over modern suits who are busying themselves on the stage before the first words of dialogue are spoken.  Or to Ann Mitchell's soft-spoken, almost whispering portrayal of Mrs Marwood.

But all three gradually materialise as part of a conception by the director as a view of the world run according to black-and-white rules in which infidelity and other sins can be condoned provided that an eventual settlement prepared by the lawyers is reached.  The three contemporary men in black have no part to play in the action, save as props and furniture shifters, but they are always there in the background ready to leap forward with a box of documents and a contract to be signed.  The way of this world can be easily cut and dried.

It is a production in which style is all, and there is some very stylish acting, often deliberately languid, as in the case of Paola Dionisotti’s Millamant and Rupert Fraser’s Mirabell, but with a bite, notably in the first scene in which the pair set out their conditions for marriage.  In contrast, Avis Bunnage as Lady Wishfort and to David Foxxe as Sir Wilfull Witwoud play in the full-blown a manner usually seen in productions of the play, the one ridiculous but touching in her middle-aged vanity, the other a lecherous sot bringing his country ways into high society. Ciaran Hinds is a drawling, low-key villain as Fainall, with Julie Legrand as his ill-used wife, John Gould and Richard Rees as Millamant’s chattering friends and Johanna Kirby, Jill Spurrier and Robert Gwilym as the trio of servants whose worldliness is no less than that of their masters.