DRAMA
The Recruiting Officer R E V I EW S E N I O R P RO D U C T I ON
Dan Norton-Smith (OA)
R estoration Comedy can be a tricky genre for any performer – the convoluted plots, exuberant caricatures and 17th-century lingo are all challenging, whilst the inherent notion that the play must be a ‘comedy’ is a hostage to fortune – plenty for an actor to get to grips with. The cast of the Upper School play, The Recruiting Officer, managed to overcome these challenges with panache and style, creating an exciting and ribald atmosphere from start to finish. Having studied Farquhar’s text as an A-level Theatre Studies student, I was wary at how the jokes and gags would be played out, and how the many intricate plots would be unravelled. I found myself uplifted and surprised by the cast’s witty wordplay and inventive world-building, helped by the excellent directorship of Victoria Arter-Furlong and Peter Jolly, who also created a dazzling sky-blue cloudscape to frame the action, enhanced by evocative flickering candles in wall sconces to conjure romance and Kite’s ridiculous magic. Credit must be given to both Jack Ramsey and Matt Tyson, who played the eponymous Recruiting Officer Captain Plume and his sleazy side-man Sergeant Kite respectively. They (and the entire ensemble) embraced the silliness of Farquhar’s text, finding subtle gags, jokes and puns, and eking them out playfully for the audience to enjoy. Gus Vaughan Williams’ creation of the ludicrously affected and hopeless Brazen had the audience in stitches. Ashley Austin displayed a mature command of the old, yet wily Justice Balance, with Izer Onadim’s doleful Mr Worthy
providing petulant comic relief in his relentless pursuit of Guilia de Simone’s excellently-realised Melinda. Her sensationalism and trivial aspirations became all the more comedic when juxtaposed against Estella Calvert’s honest, clever and cunning Silvia. Her transition into Jack Wilful was superbly realised. Darcy Houlihan and Fred Robb led the ensemble of Shropshire locals with comic assurance. Needless to say, the rest of the townsfolk proved to be just as excellent, with each successively more ridiculous cameo from the senseless Shrewsbury townsfolk feeling fresh and completely assured. Congratulations to all for creating such a vibrant, funny and wholly enjoyable Recruiting Officer . Bravo.
I found myself uplifted and surprised by the cast’s witty wordplay and inventive world-building
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