Harriet Dyer and John Adam match wits in The School for Wives
The Bell Shakespeare production of Molière’s The School For Wives is absolutely hilarious.
Director Lee Lewis has brought a modern touch to this tale of infidelity in verse based on an excellent translation by Australian playwright Justin Fleming that conveys the wit of Moliere’s finest comedy, first performed 350 years ago. It is the first time Bell Shakespeare has tackled Molière and we can only hope it is not the last.
John Adam is fabulous, in fact too attractive, as the sexist would-be husband Arnolde – or should we say Monsieur de la Souche – who has been trying to ‘grow’ himself the perfect wife, Agnes, played angelically and superbly by Harriet Dyer.
As Arnolde explains, “ a woman who can write knows more than she needs in life” so he keeps her sequestered in a convent until she is old enough to marry. Wives, after all, need only know how to “pray, love, knit and sew”. He left out cooking.
In his view, if she is kept stupid, she will remain innocent and won’t cheat on him.
But of course, the best laid plans can go awry – and they do, rapidly and deliciously. Both actors deliver finely nuanced performances with perfect comic timing as the comedy of errors unfolds.
This entertaining production draws on many comic traditions, including obvious debts to Fawlty Towers and the Marx Brothers. The stage setting emulates a film studio and evokes the era of silent films, an impression that is reinforced by the presence of a piano player (Mark Jones) on stage for much of the play.
Damien Richardson, John Adam and Jonathan Elsom Photo: Brett Boardman
The set is simple but effective and the costumes are gorgeous taking us back to the roaring 1920s. The very funny performances of Alexandra Aldrich and Andrew Johnson as the two servants, Georgette and Alan, owe much to the slapstick antics of that era.
But it is the witty repartee, often delivered in rhyming couplets, that makes this play so enjoyable. The lines come thick and fast, especially in the first half: we see Arnolde “calm down to a fit” as he deals with a scenario he deems to be “worse than testicular cancer” because Agnes has struck young Horace (Meyne Wyatt) “a lethal optical blow” with a look that makes him fall in love with her.
Worse than that, “Agnes you bloody traitor! You learned to write,” Arnolde accuses. But then what can you expect from a man who believes that “women’s groups are bitches with issues”?
The second half is slightly more serious, and it resolves this ‘gender-battle’ in a very traditional way. The dénouement sees the discovery of Agnes’ real father who comes to her rescue and saves her from Arnolde’s clutches.
This play resonates even more in the current Australian political climate following the Prime Minister’s speech which has ignited public debate about sexism.
This is an excellent and highly entertaining production from a master of comic writing, creatively staged and directed, and superbly acted.
The School for Wives is at the Playhouse, Sydney Opera House until November 24. Book on http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/whatson/2012/theschoolforwives
