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Written
by
Lope
de Vega
Translated
by
David Johnston
Diana
Countess
of Belflor
Rebecca Johnson
Teodoro
Joseph Millson
Tristan
Simon Trinder
Marcela
Claire Cox
Marqui
Ricardo
John Ramm
Count
Federico
Oscar Pearce
Fabio
Joseph Chance
Anarda
Emma Pallant
Dorotea
Melanie Machugh
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Royal Shakespeare Company
at the Playhouse Theatre
21
January - 26 March 2005 |
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Spain's
sixteenth-century genius,
Lope de Vega, was a prodigy
of creative energy: he wrote
well over 300 plays besides
a cornucopia of poetry, tales
and essays. Cervantes called
him "a monster of nature",
not only for this extraordinary
output but because in it and
especially in his secular
work he displayed an acute
understanding of the human
heart, and both wit and mastery
in dissecting it. His plays
gallop at a furious pace,
flashing with humour and incident.
"The Dog in the Manger" is
a classic instance of his
art; but it also shows how
universal were his concerns,
and how relevant even today:
for he dealt with the way
social and economic relationships
constrain emotional and sexual
ones, often in painful ways.
"Dog in the Manger" is a funny,
insightful and electric tale
of a haughty and demanding
but beautiful young countess,
much courted by aristocratic
suitors whom she rejects with
chilling civility. When she
discovers that her handsome
young secretary Teodoro is
courting one of her ladys
maids, Marcela, a passion
for him awakens in her; but
because he is a commoner she
cannot impugn her family honour
by marrying him. Yet she cannot
bear to let Marcela have him
either, so she plays the dog
in the manger, to the consternation
and tribulation of Teodoro,
and the despair of Marcela.
Around this simple tale is
woven much incident, wisdom
and comicality, arriving in
the end at a fascinating denouement
which speaks volumes about
how the rigidities of society
are bent to the varieties
of human affection. Central
to the development of the
plot is the jester figure
of Tristan, Teodoros servant,
superbly played by Simon Trinder.
He is the cog in the machine
that directs the rolling of
its wheels out of their wonted
course and into a better one.
The cast evidently have great
fun performing this fast-moving
rollicking play, and they
do it supremely well, and
with absolute credibility.
Rebecca Johnson is every inch
the Countess of Belflor, imperiously
beautiful and quick- tempered;
Joseph Millson is a marvellously
ambitious and by turns delighted
and dismayed Teodoro, while
Claire Cox excels as the much-injured
Marcela. Oscar Pearce and
especially John Ramm play
Dianas hapless suitors with
great comic gusto.
Together they produce an exhilarating
evening of theatre, though
it would not be as perfect
as it is were it not for the
brilliant translation by David
Johnston, which really caps
the whole enterprise, and
is a work of art in itself
as witness the hilarious scene
in which Tristan pretends
to be a Greek merchant and
has to make up names and places
as he goes along. With the
promise implicit in this wonderful
production, the RSCs Age of
Gold is going to prove an
unmissable theatrical event.
AC
Grayling |
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