Richmond Theatre – until Saturday 15th April 2023
Reviewed by Carly Burlinge
4****
Richmond brings you Quality Street written by J M Barrie, the same author who wrote Peter Pan.
The play tells the story of Phoebe Throssel (Paula Lane) and her sister Susan Throssel (Louisa-May Parker) as young women, Phoebe being the chirpy, happy and excitable one along with her many curls giving her the name Miss Phoebe of the ringlets. She casts her eye on Captain Valentine Brown (Aron Julius) who plays a charming, dashing and enthusiastic young man. When she gets her wires crossed with a secret he wants to disclose to her, she believes he is going to show much courage and propose to her. With excitement arising between the two sisters and expectations at a high, Valentine Brown’s secret is not the one she seeks but instead he tells her he’s enlisted during the Napoleonic Wars and will be leaving for London in the morning. Now that he is gone, the sisters decide to set up a school that only leads to unruly children to teach as well as many headaches and much tiredness. When 10 years pass by and the army wins the Battle of Waterloo, with soldiers returning including her long ago love interest. However, during this time life has not been easy on her, and tiredness has set in, with her looks not quite what they use to be. When they see each other, Phoebe is upset by the way she looks and wonders where her youthfulness has gone. Distressed by what’s occurred she decides to awaken her old self and bring those ringlets back to life. Her alter ego being her niece instead. With a ball being thrown for the victory of Waterloo and many invites being thrown at her feet as well as every solider wanting to get close to her. Will she fool Captain Brown into thinking it’s all he wants or will things backfire and go too far, where so many wrongs can no longer make a right.
I found this production a romantic comedy which was easy and enjoyable to watch, it offered many laughs throughout. I love how they gave a modern twist to the Napoleonic era, especially a few scenes at the ball when Phoebe turned into a wild creature of dance, rushing back to the dance floor when her favourite song came on. Throw in some robot moves and you have yourself a very comedy based play. The costumes were bright and energetic with simple yet effective staging and the soundscapes were done incredibly well for this show.
A great show and evening out, definitely one to watch.