MASKS AND FACES (Finborough Theatre)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aTlHSECRcE&t=2s

With subtitles: https://www.scenesaver.co.uk/production/masks-and-faces-subtitled

Available until: Wednesday 25^th August 2021

Masks are so much a part of our lives now, I mistakenly expected this to be a new play about current times. I was only about 170 years out of date. Masks and Faces is a Victorian farcical comedy, first performed in 1852.

The play is set partly in the acting world and features, among other things, a married man who becomes infatuated with an attractive and charismatic actress. It was first performed at the Finborough in 2004 and it was reviewed by critic Michael Billington. Seventeen years later, Michael returned to the production, but not as a member of the audience. The play, which was written by Charles Reade and Tom Taylor, features two theatre critics and in this production, they were played by actual theatre critics – Michael Billington and Fiona Mountford.

It’s a bit of a gimmicky idea on the surface, but it actually works well. For those who know, it adds an extra twist of comedy. If you don’t know who they are, it really doesn’t matter. Masks and Faces is a very enjoyable play with a great cast and the two real-life critics are very much part of that. Perhaps they don’t bring considerable depth to their roles – but I’m not sure it would have worked for the characters if they had.

Matthew Iliffe’s production takes place entirely on Zoom. Only the speaker appears onscreen, which means we were probably denied some brilliant reaction shots, judging from the high standard of the comedy, but the advantage is that you can always see the speaker well, even on one of the smaller devices, and it’s always clear exactly which character is speaking. I don’t think there is any right or wrong and all the different ways have their advantages.

The production is rightly played as a farce with lots of comedy which is brought across very well by the cast, but the actors do give their characters a certain amount of depth. This means that even though we’re laughing a lot of the time, we do care about the problems of the struggling playwright, the abandoned wife and the many other characters.

At the centre of the production is Amy McAllister in the role of actress Peg Woffington, a genuine and very colourful actress of the early to mid-1700s, who was once caught up in a real-life farcical situation involving David Garrick and a wig. I’m not sure how many of the other characters are real, but Kitty Clive, who has a small role in the play, was one of her deadliest rivals.

The play presents a slightly different sort of character, but Amy is charming, charismatic and very funny as she attempts to cope with every challenge that is flung at her, not to mention the men that are throwing themselves at her for various reasons.

Sophie Melville is unashamedly desperate as deceived wife Mabel, while Matthew Ashforde is rather attractively stressed as struggling writer Triplet, who really does mean well. It’s a shame there isn’t more for Mrs Triplet to do as the very talented Anne Odeke is great in her very brief appearances. Alexander Knox is also a lot of fun as the persistent Charles Pomander, while Will Kerr ensures we quite like Ernest Vane, even though he doesn’t deserve it.

Masks and Faces is a very enjoyable production – while it is brilliant to see so many new works through the digital medium, it is always great to discover a little-known classic like this one.