For those seeking to avoid panto land but who still want some festive fun, Southwark Playhouse is staging The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, an adaptation of Flaubert’s iconic novel performed by a cast of four and ‘lovingly derailed’ by writer John Nicholson.
Breaking the fourth wall within minutes of the show starting, the cast wisely check to see who in the audience has actually read the book, and despite a few smug hands going up, there are mostly embarrassed faces. It’s perfectly normal, they are assured, that, despite the book’s reputation as being one of the greatest ever written, most people only know it was banned for being too sexy.
With this established, the audience visibly relax and the tone of the piece is well and truly set as tongue-in-cheek with carefully stage-managed chaos. Marion Harrison’s set, made up of shutters, baskets and crates, provides the backdrop to life in a small French town, cleverly allowing props and actors to play peek-a-boo as the scenes shift.
Kirstie Davis’s direction ensures that every inch of the stage is used and every accent, facial expression and dramatic pause milked to its full madcap effect by the skilled cast, who throw themselves into every role with abandon. A very fitting style given the impetuous nature of the tragic heroine.
As Emma Bovary, Georgia Nicholson is a delight and even with the most ridiculous of lines manages to inject depth into the character. As her husband (plus ratcatcher and nun), Darren Seed waddles like a wind-up toy, innocent and bumbling, the perfect foil. Meanwhile, Ben Kernow and Stephen Cavanagh practically shape-shift to play all of the remaining characters of the novel. Kernow’s Rodolphe and Cavanagh’s Sister Mary are particular highlights.
We have love, lust, pregnancy, opera, surgery and a very magical sex scene that needs to be seen to be believed. The cast whip through the plot, helpfully framed by a narrative device that allows Emma to reminisce and share her own story. At times, the script lets down this talented quartet, however, overemphasising certain points with one too many fourth wall breaks.
There’s much to enjoy in this (festive?) romp with polished performances and well received set pieces, but it could be argued that this French farce would have worked better as a frenetically hilarious one-act rather than spread over a gently humorous two.