The Quays Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester. Thursday March 2nd 2017. Reviewed by Julie Noller
Directed by Christopher Luscombe
We pretty much all know the basics of Nell Gwynn, Prostitute turned actress turned mistress to Charles II. What would I discover after two hours of Jessica Swales drama that would change my perception?
The Quay Theatre inside The Lowry suited it perfectly, smaller than theatres of old with a cosiness almost reminiscent of sitting in front of my television. Walking in to take our seats we took in every detail of the set, which was not hidden behind a curtain but proudly on display. The band including lutes of the historical period were practising up on the balcony leading us to believe we were meant to hear and see them, smoke drifted across the stage eerily bringing to mind London smog; our senses were starting to awaken. We felt close to the stage even closer when actors appeared, sitting amongst us and the prologue began with humorous mistakes. We were drawn in immediately as if we were not the audience but fellow players in a Shakespearean drama. This continued throughout with a mix of bawdy carry on-esque humour and thoroughly modern jokes that the audience again became the third player to.
Nell is played by Laura Pitt-Pulford. The musical numbers allow us to hear her strong powerful voice that could quite easily belt out power ballads to raise the rafters. Nell is spunky, quite possibly the original spice girl. Periodically the lighting dimmed and we saw a vulnerable side to our Nelly but it was soon brushed aside with a little bit of risqué humour. The programme calls her our heroine and we celebrate her achievements from prostitute to orange seller, to become one of the first actresses to grace the London stage. She was the darling of her time trained and encouraged by Charles Hart played by Sam Marks with his dashing looks and l’oreal advert hair. Was he a ladies man or just Nells man? The affection was there for all to see, jealousy at times even pride. He was the leading actor of The Kings Company, managed by Thomas Killigrew (Clive Haywood) who’s love of success at the box office shows throughout. Nells feminine side and ease around men draws out the best in playwright John Drydon (Nicholas Bishop). He appears to be a fortune teller with his ideas for playscripts which the others humorously mock as silly, yet the audience laughed heartedly at. Nell is his muse much to the disgust of Edward Kynaston (Esh Alladi) he was one of the last boy players all females characters were to be played by him. He was camp and forthright a true luvvie of his time, often pouting and sulking, quite easily my favourite character. Stating his own story behind every character to be played that had nothing to do with story he was acting except to add laughs as it became the expected thing to the audience. Is this where method acting originated from? He was jealous of Nell especially as in the face of adversity she rose from an illiterate, to star, to catch the Kings eye. The king who had a roving eye and many mistresses, history tells us this, we meet his downtrodden, sad wife Catherine (Joanne Haworth) . who only speaks Portuguese with the odd witty English word thrown in for those of us without language skills, we meet Lady Castlemaine (philipa Flynn) who insists on showing up the weaknesses in the English Crown and eventually loses favour to Nell. Charles II (Ben Righton) has the only death scene despite many references to heads on spikes. It takes some persuading for Nell to succumb to his charms, however from first meeting it is apparent to the audience they are clearly struck with each other. Canny Nell knows how to handle her men and once again we see her spunky side as she manages a dream deal of £500 a year with apartment, not bad for a girl from the gutters!
Nell has to become an actress on stage and at court, attempting to balance working life against life with the King ‘who would dare to refuse the King of England’ and trying to please her family scared of what the royal court will think of them. She sadly loses her alcoholic Mother and the mask slips once again towards the end of King Charles life, as she is kept from his deathbed with no explanation but we the audience are led to believe it is because she is a woman weaker than the men around her although we the audience know differently. The play ends with a rousing chorus of the song that made Nell the theatres darling, show casing her character at its finest and enduring best. Life is for living.