'We Happy Few' is a play written by the once doyenne of the British stage, and wife to theatre legend Trevor Nunn, Imogen Stubbs. It falls into many different categories, starting as ghost story, quickly turning into farce, morphing through comedy, drama, pantomime, musical, melodrama, before landing for a long while in tragedy, and finishing with a mish-mashed "ta-Da!" The writing is long-winded and muddled, and very self-indulgent. It seems quite obvious from the outset that the female lead character of Hetty was clearly Imogen Stubbs, and although the events of the play are loosely based on a real story [that of the Osiris Players] the play drags and is in desperate need of pruning.
Briefly, it tells the story of a seven-strong all-female touring theatre troupe, taking Shakespeare plays to the culture-starved towns all over the country, whilst the men are out doing battle in war-torn Europe. It is WW2 and the play tries to shoe-horn in as many issues as it can; some well-placed, and others, whilst perhaps well-meaning, jarred. We were presented with lesbianism, class, racism, women's equality, education, and in this production, a black tea-maid with a Brummy accent, thus playing very much on the stereotypes of the decade. (played sympathetically and without any touch of irony, by Talia Nyathi)
The costuming was generally of a very high standard and most of the clothes looked authentic, even if, we were, once again, in steroetyping territory with the costumes for the Rosenbaums. The open set looked fabulous with an amazing attention to detail, and for the ghostly start of the play worked excellently. I was enthralled. However, once we went back in time 50 years to the play proper, the set was not optimal sadly, but was made to work by director Christopher Hunter. I enjoyed Hunter's work on characterisation and character development, however, where I felt his direction fell down was that he failed to inject any pace or real change of dynamics into the play, especially the first half, which, to my mind, needed a much swifter and overall more jolly tone, in order for the tragedies of the second act to really hit home. Entrances and exits took too long to effect and Hetty's letter-writing scenes were frankly, boring. The music in the show was enjoyable, and the original music was apt, in-keeping with the period, and well sung; and made even more so by the fact that it was being played live on stage by two members of the cast (Beth Turton and Garion Frith). I also enjoyed the scene-change music too, it just seemed to last too long.
None of the above, though, was the fault of the cast, who were all sterling and hugely watchable. This was the first time I have seen any of the cast in action (sadly I missed Attempts On Her Life), but I have to say that the quality of acting on offer this evening was quite remarkable. I always sit on the very back row in HOME's Theatre 2 space, since vocal projection and diction / enunciation is something I am extremely keen on, and many contemporary productions do tend to skimp on this, for me, very essential tool of the actors' kit. I am more than happy to report that every single syllable came over loud and clear thsi afternoon, and that, in itself, was worth its weight in gold for me.
11 third-year students of The Manchester School Of Theatre gave their all this afternoon, and despite my reservations on the play itself, gave 11 stand-out performances. The vast majority of the characters they portrayed were some 20 years or more older than their selves, and all came from a different era, completely alien from the way people are and behave today, and so, again, this needs acknowledging and applauding, for their commitment and believability. From the gentle, unassuming, but concerned Joseph Rosenbaum (Garion Frith) through to the domineering washed-up lush Helen (Madeleine Sidl), each character was clearly defined and their developments from start to finish - as the play spans the entire war years - was very well placed. Taking the protagonist's role as 'commander of the troupes', was Hetty (Cat Hajduk), whose less-is-more underplaying of this role suited her perfectly. She is obviously a very strong actress and yet was forceful without bombast and gave a lovely nuanced portrayal of her 'stiff-upper-lip' style character. For me though, my favourite character this afternoon was Charlie (Bella McKenty), whose flawless cockney drawl and cheeky winning charm imbued a warmth on her every entrance; again a slight caricature and playing on stereotypes, but, since the whole play is doing that all the time, then this is quite forgivable, as McKenty has obviously so much to give as an actress.
The students of MST have worked miracles in making this long-winded and confused play so entertaining, watchable, and emotional. All 11 are deserving of high praise, and I can't wait to come along to The Duchess Of Malfi at the end of this month to see them again.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 8/11/19
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