The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre
The Bourne, Hastings
East Sussex TN34 3BD
01424 423221
The Bourne, Hastings
East Sussex TN34 3BD
01424 423221
Waltz of the Toreadors
By Jean Anouilh
A Stables Theatre production
Directed by Peter Harvey
13–21 April 2007
Reviewed by Philip Blurton
By Jean Anouilh
A Stables Theatre production
Directed by Peter Harvey
13–21 April 2007
Reviewed by Philip Blurton
April’s Stables Theatre production was Jean Anouilh’s Waltz of the Toreadors, under the aegis of Peter Harvey, directing his first play at this theatre. Curtain up and we were transported to the early 1900s and the life of the retired General St Pé (Vernon Reeve), and his manipulative and supposedly bed-bound wife, Amélie (Kaye Gabriel). The General does not love Amélie but is unable to leave her, and Amélie feels little for the General but will not release him from his misery. To upset this dynamic of seventeen years, enter the General’s younger unconsummated love of his life, the beautiful Ghislaine de Ste-Euverte, coquettishly portrayed by Glenda Quinnell.
Vernon Reeve’s confident and assured, rarely off stage performance as the General was pivotal to the play. With Amélie, his wife, we see his loyalty and cowardice in the face of her petulance and bitter dependence, but with Ghislaine it is his passion and yearning for true love that emerges. With his young secretary, Gaston (Matt Turpin), we see at first his autocracy and then jealousy as Gaston moves from naive youth to confident suitor to win Ghislaine for himself. And with the rest we see the General’s baser urges to conquer anyone in a skirt and a pretty smile. Only with his friend Doctor Bonfant, played with an air of unshockable tipsy charm by David Ames, is the General able to contemplate the emptiness of his life.
Along the way we were treated to some wonderful cameos. Carol Peters as Eugénie the housekeeper captured well the bawdy humour, and Janet Tachauer as the dress maker established her shrewd character with an excellent combination of business acumen and flirtation. A drunken priest (Roland Garrad) added to the ensemble of flawed personalities. Good too to see youth theatre members Sarah Burgess and Jessica Watson joining the main troupe in the roles of the General’s unappreciated daughters.
Another plus was original music by Robert Connelly, which, along with imaginative lighting design, enhanced shifts in characters’ moods and linked the changing action of the scenes. Costumes, particularly those of the ladies, were impressive, and the different levels of a splendidly detailed set added to the physical aesthetic. At times, greater variation in the overall tone might have elicited more sympathy for this grotesque bunch of people, creating extra light and shade to keep the audience focused during the protagonist’s longer spells of dialogue. However, this complex, large-casted play with elements of burlesque, slapstick and philosophy did work; we left the theatre having laughed at the foolery and reflecting upon the deeper questions of love and meaning that affect us all.
Vernon Reeve’s confident and assured, rarely off stage performance as the General was pivotal to the play. With Amélie, his wife, we see his loyalty and cowardice in the face of her petulance and bitter dependence, but with Ghislaine it is his passion and yearning for true love that emerges. With his young secretary, Gaston (Matt Turpin), we see at first his autocracy and then jealousy as Gaston moves from naive youth to confident suitor to win Ghislaine for himself. And with the rest we see the General’s baser urges to conquer anyone in a skirt and a pretty smile. Only with his friend Doctor Bonfant, played with an air of unshockable tipsy charm by David Ames, is the General able to contemplate the emptiness of his life.
Along the way we were treated to some wonderful cameos. Carol Peters as Eugénie the housekeeper captured well the bawdy humour, and Janet Tachauer as the dress maker established her shrewd character with an excellent combination of business acumen and flirtation. A drunken priest (Roland Garrad) added to the ensemble of flawed personalities. Good too to see youth theatre members Sarah Burgess and Jessica Watson joining the main troupe in the roles of the General’s unappreciated daughters.
Another plus was original music by Robert Connelly, which, along with imaginative lighting design, enhanced shifts in characters’ moods and linked the changing action of the scenes. Costumes, particularly those of the ladies, were impressive, and the different levels of a splendidly detailed set added to the physical aesthetic. At times, greater variation in the overall tone might have elicited more sympathy for this grotesque bunch of people, creating extra light and shade to keep the audience focused during the protagonist’s longer spells of dialogue. However, this complex, large-casted play with elements of burlesque, slapstick and philosophy did work; we left the theatre having laughed at the foolery and reflecting upon the deeper questions of love and meaning that affect us all.
Also in this section >
Photographs > www.artypharty.com
A selection of production photographs from the 1950s to the present is available at our photographer Peter Mould’s website.
A selection of production photographs from the 1950s to the present is available at our photographer Peter Mould’s website.
