First to premiere in the West
End repertory season, this is the second of Ranjit
Bolt's breezy Molière translations that Peter
Hall has staged in costume at the Piccadllly. A
year ago it was School for Wives,
a rustic romp with the cast ripping through the
rhyming couplets to get at the comedy. But Michael
Pennington's intense Alceste is no buffoon. An earnest
enemy of hypocrisy with a mission for blunt truth no
matter the cost, he is aptly described by his best
friend Philinte as an overly fastidious rat who hates
the rat race. And with the director urging his actors
to respect the verse form, the first half is bogged
down in metric monotony, static save for a rude
prologue with Louis XIV baring rouged buttocks under
an emblematic Sun King motif.
This production's special interest is the much-loved
Elaine Paige, making an impressive non-singing debut
as the coquettish widow, Celimene, the object of
Alceste’s affections. She gives a roguish
performance, delivering the lines with style and
clarity, although her ornate costume constricts the
emotional response. But wait for the second half and
the showdown between Pennington and Paige, and we
have a heart-touching letter scene as the pains of
love and jealousy finally crack her social veneer.
An admirable supporting cast is led by David
Yelland’s long-suffering Philinte and a gracefully
demure Eliante from Rebecca Saire. Peter Bowles,
splendidly over the top, is the malicious poetaster
Oronte. And Anna Carteret as the false friend
Arsinoe has a splendid verbal ding-dong with Paige
before going off, full of vain hope, hand-in-hand
with the bemused Pennington.