There’s no doubt British playwright Alan Bennett is a superior dramatist.
He possesses the rare ability to successfully combine humour with pathos — and, for the most part, manages it without descending into sentimentality. And Bennett explores big issues with a keen satirical sense matched by few.
Langham Court Theatre has mounted a handful of Bennett’s plays, including Habeus Corpus in 2002, The History Boys in 2010 and The Lady in the Van in 2011.
The company’s latest excursion into Bennett-land is People, which had its U.K. première in 2012.
A comedy with dramatic elements, it’s the story of three sisters (well, one’s a half-sister) who cannot afford the upkeep on the family’s 15th-century manor in Yorkshire.
Langham Court’s production — featuring a large cast of varying abilities — is a mixed bag. Some performances on Thursday night did impress, as did the set and superb set paintings. The script has its share of charm and wit, yet it isn’t one of Bennett’s best. Overall, the play, which too often plods when it should prance, seems a challenge for this community theatre troupe.
Sporting a ratty fur coat and sneakers, Dorothy (Elizabeth Whitmarsh) is an aging recluse who was once a successful fashion model. Her best pal is half-sister Iris (Geli Bartlett), a similarly dotty eccentric. (The show starts with the twosome dancing kookily to Petula Clark’s Downtown.)
The old gals are approached by two men interested in obtaining their stately home, which has fallen deep into decay. One is Bevan (excellently played by Jason Stevens), who hopes to auction the contents and possibly relocate the mansion to a more fashionable district. His rival is Lumsden (John Owen, who captures the character’s effete unctuousness), a representative from the National Trust, which preserves English country homes.
The absurdity of the National Trust’s pitch reveals Bennett’s pen at its sharpest. Lumsden takes the notion of preservation to fetishism. For instance, he’s thrilled to learn a collection of half-filled chamberpots contains liquid contributions from famous people who stayed at the manor, including Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy and Evelyn Waugh.
Former glamour gal Dorothy has a rebellious side, which distresses her archdeacon sister, June, played by Jan Streader. Dorothy (perhaps not fully aware at first) allows a porn company to rent her home as a movie set. This livens her up considerably, in part because the fellow running the risqué show is a former flame, Theo (the always solid Toshik Bukowiecki).
Herein lies a problem. The porno scene is quite funny. However Act I, which precedes it, seemed wordy and plodding. And when the film crew exits, so does much of the play’s gusto.
And while the copulatory antics (shielded from the audience) are funny, the scene has a farcical quality that sits uneasily with the rest of the play. This unevenness in tone suggests a problem with either the direction, the script, or, more likely, both.
I suspect on paper, People seemed a more straight-forward proposition than it actually is. As ever, Bennett tends to favour verbosity, something that requires top-flight actors to make it entertaining. Subtleties in tone are not always brought out. Dorothy, in particular, is a complex character, someone who’s superficially a nutty old coot, yet underneath is a mass of psychological paradoxes.
Newcomer Anne Swannell has done an excellent job with the set, which portrays the moldering interior of a mansion: imperious doorways with regal pediments, a hand-made chandelier and plastic sheets. The set is decorated with old-master-style paintings, all cleverly painted by Swannell. This is her first set design — a most impressive debut indeed.
People
Where: Langham Court Theatre
When: To Jan. 31
Rating: three (out of five)