Lettice and Lovage

Lettice and Lovage
By Peter Schaffer. University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Little Theatre. October 4 – 14, 2017.

‘Enlarge! Enliven! Enlighten!’ – so says Lettice Douffet in Lettice and Lovage, by Peter Schaffer, justifying her somewhat romantic and dramatic elaborations on history. In a way they also encapsulate this play.

Originally written and performed in 1987 it was a ‘star’ vehicle for Maggie Smith and was an enormous ‘hit’ on both sides of the Atlantic. In Australia, the roles of Lettice Douffeet and her nemesis and ultimately best friend Lotte Schoen, were played by Ruth Cracknell and Jennifer Hagan. The question is, and has been, does the play stand up without the ‘star’ actors. Some say ‘yes’, some say ‘no’; it really depends if you are engaged and enchanted by the play itself.

The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s production currently playing in Adelaide is a real delight. For this reviewer the play certainly remains engaging, funny and enlightening, as well as full of hope and optimism. It is a refreshing change from the common fare of nihilistic confessional drama, plus it involves concerns of elderly people – something also becoming quite rare.

The plot revolves around an unlikely friendship between two senior women, Lettice Douffet and Lotte Schoen. Lettice is a tour operator at Fustian House, the most boring historic Tudor house in the UK. The play begins with a series of Lettice’s tours, each one becoming more and more grandiose as she elaborates and embellishes historical events and characters that are associated with the house. It is hilarious. Finally she is taken to task and reprimanded by Lotte Schoen from the government Historical Homes Preservation department. Lettice is summoned to London, to Lotte’s office, where she is sacked. Being of a significant age this is rather devastating for Lettice. Suffice to say the plot thickens. It is the ending that has bothered Peter Schaffer as well as theatre critics as seeming too far-fetched and inane. I didn’t think so at all; in fact I found the ending quite believable and realistic, having been personal privy to such optimistic and hope-giving conversations.

It is too easy to dismiss this play as light entertainment. Peter Schaffer is too clever a writer to indulge in ‘mere’ triviality. Beneath all the dazzling wit and humour of this play lies a deeper meaning and substance – that of getting old and of seeming worthlessness in an increasingly sterile and heartless world dominated by youth with a disregard to history as well as drama and the elderly. Fear of this sterility is what drives the two women together – and it is wonderful.

This Theatre Guild production, directed by Angela Short, is a sheer delight from beginning to end. This is primarily due to the terrific performances by Tracey Walker as Lettice and Sharon Malujlo, as well as a strong supporting cast, who make this text sing with joy and pleasure.  As well as giving strong and clearly delineated and believable characters, Ms Walker and Ms Malujlo have excellent VOICES – THANK YOU! I sometimes despair at the poor vocal range and quality often displayed on our modern stage. This was different. Each word and sentence was clear, and rather than indulging in generalised emotions, each thought was detailed and subsequently had enormous depth and resonance. Mind you – they had Peter Schaffer’s wonderful words and sentences to say, which they did – with relish.

A final quote from the play underlines the seriousness within this joyful work – ‘Language alone frees one and history gives one place’. If you are a lover of history, language, and basically good acting, as I am, then don’t miss the Theatre Guild’s production of Peter Schaffer’s Lettice and Lovage.

Tony Knight

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