The Stratford Festival has a long history of producing the works of Molière in English translation, This French author, who lived from 1622 to 1673, holds a place in French literature as central as the place of Shakespeare in English language and literature. Given that stature, the seventieth season at the Stratford Festival (which coincides with the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth) is a good time to bring on a new production of one of the master's best-known satirical farces, The Miser.
The Festival has chosen to go with Ranjit Bolt's newly adapted version of his 1995 translation. Unlike the older verse translations used in some Molière productions, this is a prose translation and a very up-to-date one indeed. Free use is made of topical and local references, one assumes with the consent of the adaptor.
It's really to the point to refer to an "adaptation" rather than a translation, since Molière's humour is essentially verbal, and -- like jokes and puns in all languages -- stubbornly resists literal translation. The only hope is to replace such jokes with English-language jokes and puns which, if you're lucky, live in the same street as the French-language originals. Maybe.
More confusing for anyone familiar with older translated texts is the renaming of the characters with contemporary English-language names. Thus, Harpagon (the miser of the title) becomes Harper, his son Cléante becomes Charlie, Frosine becomes Fay, and so on.
Designer Julie Fox has created an incredibly detailed and finicky Victorian-Gothic Revival-Horror Film fantasy of a stage set, every inch of which would look perfectly in place as the Carfax mansion in Bram Stoker's classic novel, Dracula. This impression is heightened by the dim, gloomy lighting of the stage that greets the audience as they enter the Festival Theatre, and the periodic rumbles of thunder which punctuate the pre-show.
Fortunately for the audience, that gloominess doesn't overlap into the performance itself, which is thoroughly contemporary in tone. In fact, it's a pleasure to report that, for a wonder, the company has not gone overboard and tried to drive the comedy into excess, preferring to let it unfold more naturally and humanely. This is not to say that satire is shirked by any means -- only that excess and overplus have been kept at bay for most of the show.
Most importantly, this applies to Colm Feore in the central role of the miserly Harper. His first flat-out moment of comic insanity comes in a perfect place, the final two minutes before the intermission. Fox's costume which clothed Feore in wrinkled trousers and baggy sweater with worn-through elbows tells half the story -- the weird collection of odds and ends of stuff around the stage tells us even more. He made very effective use of his turn-on-a-dime changes of mood and voice every time he suspects that someone is after his money.
Of course, he has to go much farther in the courtship scene of Act II, appearing now in an elegantly-tailored lilac-coloured suit and matching top hat which certainly made my eyes pop. Even here, though, Feore achieved a remarkable balance of pushing the limits while still showing restraint. This was a true textbook example of how farcical comedy should be approached.
So, for a different reason, was the performance of Jamie Mac as the butler, Victor. In this role, Mac drew plenty of mileage out of his expressive face, without ever taking it too far, and also made notable use of varying vocal tones whenever agreeing with everything Harper said.
Harper's son, Charlie, was given a more over-the-edge comedic portrayal by Qasim Khan. Charlie's special approach to life is underlined by a particularly flashy costume, and his quick physicality abetted the portrait of a man who lives by flash and dash.
Charlie's sister, Eleanor (usually referred to as Ellie), was given a rather more conventional, practical air by Alexandra Lainfiesta. This contrasted well with her brother's more vivid portraiture, and made her seem an ideal partner for Victor.
Beck Lloyd brought a more stereotypical look to Marianne, a character who veers perilously close to the edge of stereotype in any case. Vocally, I found her a bit wearing as her voice often sounded on the verge of bursting into tears in the old convention of the girl who cries to get her way or because she can't get her way. Frankly, I couldn't imagine what attracted Charlie to her -- but then, his speeches make it plain that he's completely enchanted anyway, and will undoubtedly learn much more about his dream woman once the enchantment wears off. Jung would have a good deal to say about this couple.
The comedic prize of the show, in many ways, was the marriage broker, Fay. Dressed in slinky black leather with gold chains and a colourful coat over it, she looked like a refugee from Vegas -- or was it Palm Beach? Lucy Peacock made herself completely at home in this flashy costume, strutting and preening and sashaying about the stage. Her distinctive voice perfectly completed the portrait, drawling out the lines in a way that made the very sound of her voice amusing -- and the words she was speaking even more so. Inspired casting and outstanding performance, which nearly stole the show.
David Collins proved an equally ideal choice for the role of Harper's wealthy friend, Arthur Edgerton. Collins is a Stratford regular, and always appears and sounds right at home in this wise elder type of role.
Steve Ross gave a fine comic turn as the detective summoned to investigate the theft of Harper's money.
Harper is also the deus ex machina who untangles the whole tangled mess of the plot, and here the extreme topicality of the adaptation of the script began to grate on me. There were just too many convenient coincidences, or synchronicities if you prefer, and I slipped out of the play and into the role of the cynical onlooker saying, "Yeah, right...." Trying to make this ending "go" will, I think, always pose problems for any company performing this version of The Miser.
Director Antoni Cimolino has achieved one of his finest outings in the comedy/farce world here, pacing and building the show along nearly ideal lines so that there's always somewhere left to go until the last possible moment. While the stage pictures were rather conventional at times, they always worked well and the characters remained audible at all times.
Kudos to Stratford on a well-planned, well-played, truly funny production of this Molière classic.
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