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Show: You Can’t Take It With You
Society: Sedos
Venue: The Bridewell Theatre, Bride Lane, London, EC4Y 8EQ
Credits: Moss Hart and George S Kaufman
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 10/04/2018
You Can’t Take It With You
Chris Abbott | 11 Apr 2018 10:31am
Photo: Marcella Toth
Sedos are always enterprising and wide-ranging in their choice of productions, and it was good to discover that You Can’t Take It With You has much to offer. A three-act 1938 play not often produced now by amateur companies – this is the first review of the play in the Sardines database – it was presented by Sedos with one interval, as was the case in the 2012 production at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. Revived on Broadway in 2014, this is a play that deserves rediscovery.
Sedos provided an excellent account of the play in a tightly-controlled production at the Bridewell Theatre, their usual base. Nick Mouton’s direction ensured the necessary momentum was built to the climax at the interval, and then continued and indeed exceeded in the second act. The set by Peter Foster cleverly extended the architectural features of this repurposed swimming pool and made good use of the space under the stage, once the pool itself. In a large creative team, mention should also be made of the work of Fight Coordinator Dan Styles and the costumes by Andrea Ortiz, particularly those for the women in the cast, with hairstyles also in period.
In a large cast, several performances came to the fore and caught the eye, as well as driving the pace and ensuring that others were swept up with them. Sarah Berryman was appropriately enthusiastic as ever-failing ballet dancer Essie and Izzi Richardson was a believably affronted sister Alice. There were effective cameos from Nelson Wan as a dour tax investigator and from Lily Ann Green, going over the top and then some very entertainingly as a drunk actress and a Russian Grand Duchess fallen on hard times.
Casting the confident Lisa Depuis and Joe Docherty as Rheba and Donald the cook and house-servant, rather than African-Americans as written, neatly if not quite believably sidestepped any concerns around the 1930s portrayal of BAME characters. Although there were no real weak links in the cast, despite the occasional hesitancy or disappearing accent, the success of the evening came mostly from three skilled performances by actors who fully understand this kind of madcap American comedy.
Grounding the whole piece in her own gleeful version of normality was Dara Seitzman as would-be author Penny. This was a pitch-perfect account of the role, as believable when listening and reacting to others as when regaling all around her with her latest play. The play came to life whenever she was on stage; although it was unclear why she had to be on stage, in darkness, from when the audience entered. This can be a good device for establishing character, but not really needed in this kind of frothy comedy.
Joining her in justifiable actorial excess – and possibly exceeding it – Matt Tyliankis was an entirely believable and very entertaining Kolenkhov. Between them, these two actors drove the play forward, picking up the pace whenever they entered and taking their fellow cast members with them; they both understand that this is a play that needs broad-brush character work rather than fine detail. These are not conventional people anyway; as Alice says in the play “Why can’t we be like other people?”
They were joined, during the second act, by the most carefully thought-out performance of the evening, that of Craig Karpel as Anthony Kirby. Looking entirely of the period, he moved from the austere presentation of his character, through affronts and combative stages, to a gentle reconciliation which provided a satisfying coda.
The fireworks could perhaps have been louder with a little more pyrotechnics although perhaps the venue was too restricting for that; but the period music before the piece and in the interval helped greatly to set the scene.
An entertaining account, then, of a play which offers many opportunities to performers who can take up the challenge, as Sedos did so effectively. We look forward to their next productions at the Bridewell, Pippin in May and Earthquakes in London in July.
- : admin
- : 10/04/2018