#16. The Beaux' Stratagem

Susannah Fielding as Mrs Sullen
Photo by Manuel Harlan

The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar
Premiere: Theatre Royal, Haymarket (now Her Majesty's - 8 March 1707)
Currently playing at the National Theatre.

George Farquhar's final play, written in the final days preceding his death, is a joyous romp by one of the great writers of the Restoration. It is currently playing at the Olivier in a strong revival directed by Simon Godwin, and led by Susannah Fielding and Samuel Barnett.

The Beaux', Mr Aimwell and Mr Archer, have lost their fortunes in the bristling city life of London, and hounded by their debts they have fled to Lichfield. Here they hatch their Stratagem; to pose as master and servant and find the richest lady possible in order to marry her for her money. Brilliantly, Aimwell and Archer meet their match in the women they set their sights on, Mrs Sullen and Dorinda. The Beaux' stratagem gets knocked off course when they end up truly in love with the women, one of whom is unhappily married to a drunk, and also manage to get mixed up with a crooked landlord and his highwayman pals, a stream of ambitious servants and a rather confused priest. Joyously, despite all of the chaos and confusion, love seems sure to win out in the end.

The difficulty in reviving this play is to rediscover the sense of shock that audiences of the time must have felt at the notion that a woman could have authority of her own.

It is a wordy, twisting plot that struggles to accelerate in the first act, but in the second act flies. Susannah Fielding as Mrs Sullen is reminiscent of Emmeline Pankhurst, although several hundred years her senior, in her rallying of the audience for support in her quest to have command of her own life. Fielding, quite rightly, has complete command of the audience, effortlessly whipping them up in her several soliloquies to the point where they cheer and applaud her sentiments. Samuel Barnett gives a fantastic performance as Aimwell, marrying faultless comedic timing with sincere hart and undying energy, paired with a light-footed Geoffrey Streatfield as Archer. Pearce Quigley's straight-faced performance is hilariously droll as the scene-stealing Scrub, the Sullen's overworked, under-appreciated servant, while Pippa Bennett-Warner holds her own as the charmingly youthful Dorinda.

Geoffrey Streatfield (Archer) & Samuel Barnett (Aimwell)
Photo by Manuel Harlan

Godwin makes impressive use of the playing space across Lizzie Clachan's three storey set, even if it is only using a fraction of the Olivier's huge stage. He finds the joy in the busy intimacy of the close downstage playing area, and relishes the opportunities to allow the cast to wink knowingly to the audience. Clachan's design is colourful and striking, and the transitions between scruffy inn and country manor as performed unaided by the cast are shrewd in their simplicity. The musical numbers, accompanied by conveniently conjured musicians, are a delight, and there is a fantastic song and dance number to round off a delightfully entertaining evening.

Farquhar's last play, when considered in context, is a testament to his fearless drive to innovate in his writing. In a radical shift to tradition, the conclusion is not with a double marriage, but with the celebration of a marriage and a divorce. After all, the notion of a woman divorcing, let alone the suggestion that she may remarry, was legally impossible at the time. The difficulty in reviving this play is to rediscover that sense of shock and surprise the audiences of the time must have felt at the notion that a woman could have authority of her own, and could leave the marriage of convenience to a powerful, wealthy man for real love. In absence of knowledge of this context as many of the audience will be (unless of course they read one of the wonderfully informative programmes the National are known for), the play loses some of its bite and gumption. Without this tension, the struggle of the women becomes quaint and nostalgic rather than admirable.

Certainly, Godwin's revival stands strongly as a witty comedy about the trials of love and respectability, and indeed is respectable for fairly presenting such a cross-section of society onstage. The energy and pace in the second act particularly whisks the audience up into the whirlwind of the strange manager of characters, and the pay off is worth the work. It is a shame, though, that the political and perhaps even revolutionary air of the play is lost in performance to an audience for whom divorce has become commonplace.

Pearce Quigley (Scrub) and Geoffrey Streatfield (Archer)
Photo by Manuel Harlan

Playing at the National Theatre until 20th September 2015. 
Tickets available here.