The Kissing Dance
Adapted from Oliver Goldsmith’s 18th-century comedy She Stoops to Conquer, Howard Goodhall and Charles Hart‘s The Kissing Dance combines a comedy of errors – a young suitor (Ian Virgo) fooled into thinking the manor of his potential father-in-law is an inn – with Goodhall’s melodic writing style, presented for this outing in the form of a pastoral score.
The actor musicianship gives the production an interesting edge; a flute, clarinet, saxophone, violin, xylophone and even a triangle joining the band during proceedings, but their appearances may be too fleeting, things left feeling a bit thin when the piano alone was accompanying. The often rigid actor/orchestra barrier was broken down further still with number of the cast competently taking on duties at the piano.
Having re-imagined the village of Nonesuch forward from the late 1700s to an Edwardian setting, Lotte Wakenham‘s production hasn’t quite shed the feel of a costume farce, powered wigs et al – it is here the trouble lies. The performances are strong across the cast and they execute the comedy well, but by the time the second half has descended into a hazy whodunit, The Kissing Dance felt like it was trying to cover too much ground.
