Wodehouse humour delights

Barbara Frame
Barbara Frame
Five minutes into the show, Bertie Wooster is already over his head in the usual kind of pickle, this one involving Aunt Dahlia, a chef, two ditzy young women, neither of whom Bertie has any inclination to marry, a fascist, a newt enthusiast, a cow creamer and much more.

Fans of P.G. Wodehouse’s endearing twit and his unflappably superior manservant, Jeeves, will feel at home immediately.

The underlying conceit is that Bertie is telling the audience about recent events at Totleigh Towers, and that Jeeves and another servant are helping him with the resulting play-within-a-play.

The preposterous, convoluted tale includes love triangles, secret and teetering engagements, dreadful dilemmas, various forms of blackmail and much more. Just three actors take on umpteen engaging characters, sometimes simultaneously: Jack Buchanan is Bertie, and Andrew Paterson and Andrew Ford play Jeeves and everyone else, necessitating many quick changes and an array of hats, wigs, blatantly false moustaches and the like. The actors delight the audience with splendid ensemble work, versatility, excellent characterisation and fancy footwork. Their presentation of a car journey is especially delightful, and a charming dance routine at the very end an unexpected bonus.

This impressively staged production is the Fortune mainstage debut of young director Jordan Dickson. He succeeds, especially, in pitching the humour at the precise Wodehousian level, and in maintaining energy, pace and timing.

Costumes and set (by Rowan Holt and Ioan Bramhall respectively) are less dazzling but reflect the amateurish, improvised nature of Bertie’s storytelling. 

Jeeves and Wooster calls to mind other period comedies at the Fortune, notably The Hound of the Baskervilles in 2015, and 2016’s The Mystery of Irma Vep. It is endearingly entertaining and its broad appeal will make it a good option for families.

 

Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense

Fortune Theatre Saturday, February 10

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