Shaw Festival scores another winner with Priestley comedy

Last weekend we attended the second of three Shaw productions I will be reviewing in this space this season, and it proved to be a bonafide winner from start to finish.

When We Are Married by Shaw contemporary J.B. Priestley dates from October of 1938, when it premiered at the St. Martin's Theatre in London, afterwards transferring to the Prince's Theatre the following March.  This play also has the distinction of being the first to be televised unedited, courtesy the BBC back in 1939.

This is the second go-around for When We Are Married at the Shaw Festival; the first, directed by Tony van Bridge, dates back to 1990 and I vaguely remember that production as a very fine one indeed.

This new production, directed by Joseph Ziegler and lavishly designed for the small Royal George stage by Ken MacDonald, is a fine way to spend about two-and-a-half hours, but best to check your logic at the door on the way in; there is not much in this classic British comedy that borders on farce almost a bit too much at times.

The premise here is three couples, all pillars of their community in Yorkshire, have gathered together to celebrate over dinner their 25th wedding anniversaries.  Yes, all three couples were married in a single ceremony 25 years earlier and they have remained good friends ever since.  So why not raise a glass together as they celebrate their joint silver wedding anniversary?  Why not, indeed!

Seems there is a problem here, though.  The minister who married the three couples a quarter-century ago didn't follow the rules properly when it came to registering the marriages, so essentially the three couples discover to their collective chagrin they are in fact, not married at all!  The initial shock of this news is predictable; the following shockwaves are not and make for some very funny moments throughout the rest of the play.

All three couples, the Helliwells, the Parkers and the Soppitts, react differently to the news once the reality of the situation becomes clear.  Ask yourself:  would you, given a second chance after being married to your spouse for 25 years, renew those vows when you find out you have been given a legal out?  Most of us, I suspect, would sign up for the future together readily, but these three couples are not so sure about that.

Thom Marriott's verbose Alderman Joseph Helliwell, a fine upstanding citizen to be sure, loses his grip on his wife, played by Claire Jullien, who discovers she can in fact stand up to Joseph and take control of the situation, not entirely to his liking I might add.

Councillor Albert Parker, played by Patrick McManus, is aghast to find his dignified wife, played by Catherine McGregor, is not as content with the marriage as he is, and is she in fact flirting with Mr. Soppitt at one point?

And what of the Soppitts, then?  Patrick Galligan gets a lot of mileage out of his role as Herbert Soppitt, as he discovers he does in fact have a spine when he confronts his overbearing wife, played by Kate Hennig.  The scene when they actually slap each other across the face is uncomfortable to watch today and there were audible gasps going up from the audience at the performance we attended.  But the audiences of the day likely didn't give it a second thought.

It doesn't take long for us to realize that while all the central characters are morally upright citizens of Yorkshire, there are plenty of what director Ziegler refers to as "Yorkshire-isms" throughout the play. So many, in fact, they almost become caricatures of themselves as the play goes on.

Then there are those heavy Yorkshire accents, which prove to be a challenge for the audience at times, particularly with young Jennifer Dzialoszynski, who plays the comely 15-year old maid, Ruby.  She is great in the role, but I for one had some difficulty deciphering her accent at times.

The rest of the supporting cast is good, but the comedy is almost too broad from Mary Haney as Mrs. Northrop and Peter Krantz as the alcoholic photographer Henry Ormonroyd, summoned to take a picture of the big event before the awful truth is known.

But is it in fact the awful truth?  I won't give away the ending, but suffice it to say all ends well in this comedy of errors devised by J. B. Priestley.  It is the journey there that provides the laughter.

This won't be the biggest show at Shaw this season, but it is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and will do very well for the Festival.  If you are going to more than one play this year at Shaw, When We Are Narried should be on your list of fun escapes this summer.

When We Are Married continues at the Royal George Theatre until October 26th, and rates a respectable three out of four stars.

July 6th, 2014.