Jeeves and Wooster in
Perfect Nonsense is a new West End comedy based on the infamous duo
originally created by P.G. Woodhouse. I
might be too young to remember the television show from the early 90s (with
Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry), but this new production similarly features two
exceptional comedians: Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan (with support from Mark
Hadfield).
Perfect Nonsense couldn’t
be a more fitting title. The actual plot
is typically farcical guff (something about a cow creamer, an important
notebook and matchmaking – it’s easy to get lost), involving upper-class toff
Bertie Wooster and his omniscient butler Jeeves who frequently saves the day. It’s all incredibly tenuous, but the wordy
script is almost irrelevant – the plot is simply a vehicle for the play’s silly
fun, jam-packed with visual gags and slapstick humour. Comedy is squeezed from every ounce of the
production, from piecing together and rotating the well-constructed set, makeshift props (the car especially), sharp
lighting changes, sound cues and cross-dressing, not to mention the performances
that highlight the play-within-a-play structure by breaking the fourth wall
with hilarious effect. The first act
suffers from a few dips but the second act is sharper and speedier with laughs
aplenty.
Most of those laughs stem from the cartoonish
characterisation from the three-strong cast.
The narrative centres on Wooster, played by Mangan with a toothy grin
visible from the back of the upper circle and a hearty guffaw, his absurd
characterisation offset by Macfadyen’s stoic Jeeves. The remaining characters are played by both
Macfadyen and Hadfield – a major source of hilarity as they seemingly
impossibly switch between costumes and accents with surprising speed and
impeccable comic timing. The result is a relentless, fast-paced production that appears almost improvised, forever on the brink of falling
apart but slickly directed by Sean Foley.
It’s just a shame that much of the action at the front of the stage is
obscured by the theatre’s circles.
Jeeves and Wooster is
simply a terrific piece of light entertainment that’s typically British and
cannot be beaten for laughs on the West End stage.
4/5
Watch: Jeeves and Wooster is running at the Duke Of York's Theatre until March 2014, tickets available here.
Watch: Jeeves and Wooster is running at the Duke Of York's Theatre until March 2014, tickets available here.