Civic Theatre, Darlington – 14 April 2015

The English Touring Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company bring Thomas Middleton’s 17th century comedy to Darlington this week.  Edited and updated to 1950’s Soho by Sean Foley and Phil Porter, it is a modern update on a classic masterpiece

In this version, Foley has cut the text by a fifth and added some extra jokes but remains true to the original.  It is filthy, ribald and bawdy with double entendres of which a “Carry On” film would be proud.  Using some now outdated words that have lost their original meanings this show brings back such phrases as “venereal blessings” in this context meaning love and desire and not, as we now know it, a dose of the pox.

The plot is twofold, Dick Follywit (Joe Bannister) is trying to get is hands on his uncles fortune.  Disguising himself as a Lord, a burglar, a call girl and an actor in order to do so.  His uncle, Sir Bounteous Peersucker (Ian Redford), gets his kinky kicks from spanking and whipping and the like and is generous to all but his nephew.

And we have Mr Littledick (Ben Deery) who is paranoid about his wife’s fidelity and employs a Private Detective (David Rubin) to watch over her.

In the middle of this we have Truly Kidman (Sarah Ridgeway), the paid mistress of Sir Bounteous, the object of affection for many others and a fake Irish nun confessor for Mrs Littledick (Ellie Bevan) who manages to engineer a liaison between Mrs Littledick and Penitent Brothel (Dennis Herdman) a dog-collared member of the clergy.

In the end, the genius of Middleton’s satire on a world obsessed by money and sex shines through and Foley’s production makes total sense in the final act when all the characters wear Jacobean fancy dress, and there is a unity between word and action

It took me some time to tune my ear to the 17th century prose with the incongruous juxtaposition of the 1950’s set.  If you take away the impurity of the plot you are left with some outstanding acting, in a complicated plot.  The set is outstandingly impressive and works in every scene and the costumes are magnificently glorious.

But for me the star of the show is the music, modern jazz played to carry along the story.  The band – Thomas Allan, Candida Caldicot, Ayse Osman, Tom Peverelle and Ellie Smith compliment deliciously and the singer Linda John-Pierre belts out the rhythm and blues in a voice like molten chocolate and her voice is worth the ticket alone.

In Darlington until Saturday 18th.  It has a 12+ age warning but this show is wonderfully filthy and is not for the easily offended