“… the play retains Wilde’s biting social commentary and manages to enliven the story while retaining a lot of Wilde’s witticisms, mainly from his other works.”
Julia Newbould
3 Stars
Venue: Genesian Theatre
Sydney
Dates: Until 7 June
Lord Arthur Savile is getting married. That’s not his crime. There’s an impending message that sets off the chain of events that leads to the crime.
Based on a short story by Oscar Wilde and adapted for the stage by playwright Constance Cox in the 1950s, the play retains Wilde’s biting social commentary and manages to enliven the story while retaining a lot of Wilde’s witticisms, mainly from his other works.
The Genesian Theatre might be playing in a new location in Rozelle, but the cosy, English drawing room dramas are still standard fare.
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime is a good play; it’s well written, perhaps a little dated, but it’s a great story, rarely told, and makes for a good drama. The leads – Lord Arthur (Brock Cramond) and Sybil Merton (Catherine Layard) – started a little timidly but owned their roles by the second half. Baines (Oliver Harcourt-Ham) was solid in his role as Arthur’s loyal manservant. Arthur’s family, Christopher Hamilton as the Duke of Paddington, Deirdre Campbell as Lady Beauchamp, and Julia Burns as Lady Windemere were convincing in their roles as the blustering upper-class of Wildean drama. Roslyn Hicks as Sybil’s domineering mother was excellent.
Amy Silvana Thomas as Nellie the maid, Kees Harman as Mr Podgers and Sebastian Lodge as Herr Winkelkopf all made their Genesian debuts in this production, and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future.
The play starts with a dinner party to celebrate the impending marriage of Sir Arthur Saville to Sybil Merton. They are two rich young things looking forward to their wedding – despite the jokes about marriage making men miserable. Sybil comes to visit Lord Arthur to warn him that her mother is bringing a guest to the dinner party – a cheiromantist – who reads palms and will find out if there is anything in his past, present or future, that would make him an unsuitable husband for her daughter. Lord Arthur is agitated. He doesn’t think there’s anything in his past but is not totally sure. The cheiromantist, Mr Podgers, reads his palm and finds something that puts the drama into action.
What is it? Who will find out? Will the marriage go ahead? Will the predictions come true? What is Lord Arthur’s crime?
The crime in question is murder – and the cheiromantist has told Lord Arthur he has blood on his hands and will one day commit murder. The question for Arthur is when should he do it? Before the wedding?
It’s a silly romp but worth a ticket. Congratulations to the set, production, and costume designer/director Molly Haddon and her team.
photo by Anthony Burns, Homepix Photography P/L.
3 Windemere’s fans
Julia Newbould, Theatre Now
