The 2015 Shaw Festival season is now in full swing, and from what I've seen so far this season should be a vintage harvest of great theatre. So let's get the ball rolling with a particularly light-hearted take on Shaw's classic, You Never Can Tell.
There has been a move at the Shaw Festival in recent years to modernize the great writer's plays and make them more appealing to modern audiences. Such is the case with You Never Can Tell, dating from 1899 when it received its first London production at a private theatre club known as the Stage Society.
The Shaw Festival has presented this classic play six times previous to this, and I recall seeing the previous three, in 1988, 1995 and in 2005. But the seventh production, this time at the Royal George Theatre, takes an even more upbeat approach to the play, directed by Jim Mezon.
Mezon, a Shaw veteran of 31 years who has starred in and directed many of the Festival's more memorable productions in the past, has effectively breathed new life and fun into this tale of love gone wrong and gone right.
You Never Can Tell opens in the office of local dentist Valentine, played by Gray Powell. He's new in town and his practice has not exactly been busy since he opened. In fact, in six weeks of business we sit in on his very first patient. Powell plays the part with a youthful exuberance matched only by the young brother and sister pair of Philip and Dolly Clandon. Dolly and Philip, played by Jennifer Dzialoszynski and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff respectively, are intrigued by the young dentist and promptly invite him to lunch. Good thing too, since he has not been able to afford much given the fact his practice has not been all that busy.
Dolly and Philip really set the pace for the craziness that follows in the first act, but I found them just a little too over-the-top for my tastes. In stark contrast to their effervescence, sister Gloria, played by Julia Course. Gloria's a bit of a cold fish, a staunch feminist who nonetheless begins a difficult courtship with the dentist Valentine. It takes forever for the two of them to actually kiss, after a very long time discussing life and love (it is still a Shaw play, after all) but when they do, you can feel the tension start to ease between the two of them just a little bit.
The Clandon children have been brought up by Mrs. Lanfrey Clandon, going it alone without the help of the children's father. Mrs. Clandon, played by Tara Rosling has done a pretty good job of raising the three children, but when they all find themselves on a collision course with another visitor at the Marine Hotel, things get pretty tense indeed.
The three Clandon siblings have never known their real father, but he ends up at the hotel as well and Mrs. Clandon is not amused. Come to think of it, neither is the father, Fergus Crampton. He is a gruff individual played by Patrick McManus, and the children appear more than a little disillusioned when they finally discover who their real father is.
The difficult relationship between Lanfrey and Fergus is detailed at length, enough so to make the audience wonder if love can indeed conquer all. Not with those two, but with Gloria and Valentine, in spite of it all, why yes indeed it can!
The second half of the play introduces us to a knowledgeable lawyer with a penchant for showmanship, Bohun, who brings some common sense to the discussions at hand as a costume ball is taking place at the hotel. He had been invited to intervene by the family solicitor, Finch McComas, and just in time, too.
As Bohun, Jeff Meadows plays the comic aspect to the extreme, and in doing so almost steals the show. His fellow solicitor Finch, played by Peter Krantz, is a well-meaning soul who just wants things to work out with the family members.
All of the cast members put in strong appearances with Jim Mezon's sure-footed direction, and even some of the smaller roles shine brightly here. Donna Belleville as Natalie the chef is a prime example of this.
The most trusted member of this group, the one who acts as the glue that keeps it all together, is William the wise old butler. Played with maximum charm by veteran actor Peter Millard, he gets to repeat the optimistic title of the play, You Never Can Tell, as a way of logically explaining why things are happening as they are.
A nice gesture in the program notes is the fact the production is being dedicated to the late Jack Medley, who was memorable as William in the 1995 production at Shaw. It proved to be one of his last performances at the Festival.
Overall, this is a production of You Never Can Tell audiences will love, as bright and fun-loving as the younger Clandon siblings Dolly and Philip themselves.
You Never Can Tell runs until October 25th at the Royal George Theatre, and rates a strong three out of four stars.
Have a great week!
July 13th, 2015.
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