Designer Ashley Martin-Davis's striking set has thin-planked, exposed wooden flooring to the in-the-round stage. Spilling out from beneath this raised and jagged area is a jumble of broken furniture - table legs, backs of chairs - all gilded in bright gold. A swathe of polythene hangs from above the stage and droops in front of one side of the circle. Thin metal water pipes descend from the ceiling, dripping liquid. All over the set is a scattering of what appears to be plaster of paris, like the aftermath of a fight between sculptors.

A man rushes on stage, connects an attachment to one of the pipes and winches up the polythene that obscures the view of one side of the circle. The effect is both visually and audibly gripping - a great start. Some of the characters who then emerge are aesthetically astonishing. Particularly so is Helen Bradbury as Elise (The Miser's daughter). She strides on in a tightly-corseted Baroque ankle-length dress; the front material of the skirt exposed to show the hooped-frame and black-and-white striped stockings beneath. Her face is alabaster, her eyes rimmed with thick dark eye-make-up; her hair a shock of pale yellow frizz. Cleante (The Miser's son) played by Danny Lee Wynter looks equally kooky in tight, three-quarter-length jeans; a necklace of pearls; trainers; a frock coat; dense black eye-liner; and a thickly-spiked wig which seems to have been caught in a stiff side-breeze. Both look as if they have walked straight off an outlandish haute-couture catwalk.

Harpagon The Miser - a sinewy Derek Griffiths - is dressed more modestly. So are his servants, played by Pepe Balderrama, Pawel Zdun, Julian Chagrin, Simon Gregor. All wear light, simple white smocks and knee-length shorts. All are covered from head to foot in a thick crust of white dust, as if in the middle of renovating a stuccoed building. Exactly why everyone looks as if they are part-time painters-and-decorators is never quite clear, but the effect was intriguing. Translation and adaptation by Robert Cogo-Fawcett & Braham Murray (from the original by Molière (1622-1673)) feels clear and contemporary.

Unfortunately, the performances and the pace of the piece as a whole are inconsistent, and often incoherent. Some actors seem to embrace a melodramatic Commedia dell'arte style - throwing themselves around the stage and gesticulating wildly. Others could be gliding through a prim period piece. Some scenes race along at an incomprehensible pace; others seem tired and leaden. More fundamentally, lines are often gabbled, forgotten, or fluffed - making the actors appear amateurish. The cumulative effect of these faults makes it very difficult to be drawn into either the characters or their relationships. Although never fully engaging, this production of The Miser is aesthetically arresting and peppered with funny moments.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Helen Atkinson Wood - Frosine. Pepe Balderrama - Maitre Simon / Dame Claude. Tim Barlow - Signor Anselme. Helen Bradbury - Elise. Julian Chagrin - Jaques. Simon Gregor - La Fleche. Derek Griffiths - The Miser. Chris Hannon - Brindavoine / Superintendent. Danny Lee Wynter - Cleante. Sarah Ovens - Mariane. Charlie Walker-Wise - Valere. Pawel Zdun - La Merluche / Gendarme.

Company Credits: Writer - Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673). Translated & Adapted by - Robert Cogo-Fawcett & Braham Murray. Director - Helena Kaut-Howson. Movement Director - Julian Chagrin. Designer - Ashley Martin-Davis. Lighting Designer - Mark Jonathan. Sound Designer - Steve Brown. Composer - Akintayo Akinbode. Technical Operator - uncredited. Assistant Director - Sam Pritchard. Press Officer - John Goodfellow. Producer - uncredited. Company - The Royal Exchange Theatre. Website - www.royalexchange.co.uk. Note: This production is part of A Night Less Ordinary - an Arts Council England scheme, supported by the (UK Government) Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which offers free theatre tickets to under-26-year-olds. See www.royalexchange.co.uk/guestlist for full details.

END

(c) Jonny Lodge 2009

reviewed Monday 7 September 2009 / Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com