This was the final of the current third year students at The Manchester School Of Theatre's public productions, and if they meant to go out with a bang and on a high then they most certainly did!
Nell Gwynn is a play (with a few songs thrown in for good measure) by Jessica Swale, and tells the (not entirely historically accurate) account of one of England's first and perhaps most celebrated actresses, Nell Gwynn, from her upbringing in the hovels of squalor and whoring to becoming the favoured mistress of King Charles II through her gutsy but honest natural talent of acting.
It's a fun play, and not meant to be taken too seriously, not even by itself, and here director Mary Papadima excels in keeping the whole moving and light even when tragedy strikes. There is a feeling that the play within the play of a play is perhaps all just a play in any case, and with some excellently observed colourful but never too over-the-top characters, this self-effacing laugh at the Restoration period of both drama and politics is hugely entertaining and perfectly cast.
With a simple but effective set (Rula Stasevictiute), quasi-authentic costuming (Chloe Ramsay) and non-intrusive lighting (Kay Haynes), all the component parts of the creative team came together to ameliorate and aid the narrative. But it was the effectiveness of casting, the beauty of nuanced and flawed characters, and some lovely on-stage chemistry between the cast which really brought this play to life.
The 11-strong cast all were deserving of praise, and the ensemble work was lovely. Jessica Nicholson's feisty and uncompromising performance as Nell Gwynn was of course central to the whole plot, and was superbly anchored; and despite it being an unmittigating tour-de-force of a performance it was far from being a selfish one, and her - along with the whole cast's - obvious enjoyment at being in this play really shone through. Dora Davis showed great skill in the dual roles of Nell's sister Rose (quiet, unassuming and loving) and Queen Catherine (somewhat overt and aristocratic). Kirsty Johnson's minimalist portrayal of the maid, Nancy, and her frustrations of acting, were very underplayed and real, whilst Elizabeth Kentish was given rein to do just the opposite and be as outrageous as possible in her dual aristocratic roles. Adam Chalk showed great sensitivity in his performance of King Charles, as we genuinely felt for his plight politically, and his speech to parliament was superb. The members of the actors' company were all very good indeed, with Noe Sebert playing Charles Hart.the actor who 'found' and tutored Nell Gwynn and fell madly in love with her. His feelings both real, and 'acted' were very cleverly observed and one really rooted for him despite knowing it was doomed. Joe Pass played the 'leading lady' of the company, and, if you have never been involved with members of the profession, then you could be forgiven for thinking that he was overacting... however, you may take it from me that characters like that, unfortunately, do exist, and are undoubtedly what gives the profession such a bad name. Egotistical, vainglorious, limelight-hogging, prima donnas who create elaborate and unnecessary backstories and need to know their motivation for every single action, without having the imagination to know it for themselves! Yes, we've all come across people like this every now and again! However Pass did play his chaarcter with a heart and a conscience and I enjoyed his interpretation greatly.
I was truly thrilled by this production, to my mind, one of the best I have seen from MST so far, and one which will live long and fondly in my memory. Congratulatiosn to you all and I wish you all much success as you start your chosen career and hope to see you on the West End stage very soon!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 30/5/19
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