Nell Gwynn
After the Puritanical and prudish rule of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, the restoration of the monarchy brought back one big thing... FUN! (well, two things... if you count long curly wigs. Actually, three; big floppy feathered hats probably count. Y’know what, lots of things came back. Thinking about it though, floppy hats and feathered wigs are pretty fun so yeah: one thing came back – FUN!) And this fun was in the form of Charles Two (regal boogaloo).
Cromwell was a drag and as well as banning Christmas he also outlawed the theatre – with the return of the monarchy the playhouses were restored and we had our delicious moral degradation back. Yum, I love me some good old moral degradation. To really compound this sin, ladyfolk were allowed on the stage for the first time and the most famous lady actor (actor-ess) of her day was Nell Gwynn. From humble beginnings via the London stage Gwynn became mistress to the King.
The play whizzes through Nell establishing herself a star of restoration comedy and catching the king’s eye before shifting its focus between the worlds of the theatricals and the court. An interesting use of costuming seeks to differentiate between these spheres - the actors (and Nell initially) are dressed in modern attire while the King and his court are dressed in period costume. As Nell moves up her attire shifts. I wasn’t particularly convinced by this; the use wasn’t clear for some time and I felt the dissonance brought about by the contrast in clothing was jarring rather than highlighting social distinctions. That is a minor criticism though for what I consider to be the best play I have seen at the Maddermarket to date.
It’s a fantastic script, both witty and emotive, that has found a charming ensemble of actors to bring it to life. I cannot fault a single performance and would go as far as saying a few were genuinely superb, not least the fabulous portrayal of Nell at the heart of the piece. She has charisma and a great pair of lungs – it makes it easy to see why a king would fall for her - the audience certainly did. The collective of actors bounce off each other anarchically and the portrayal of Charles brought differing shades of character where a caricature could have been.
The humour in the play is best described as bawdy; saucy suggestive songs feature throughout and for something that is not expressly a comedy there are lots of laughs to be had. It’s a long evening’s entertainment but to spend it in the company of a great cast delivering a great script was joyous.
