The Relapse

Synopsis

Or Virtue in Danger, Vanbrugh's first play (1696). A tale of two marriages, one about to fail and the other about to start. Restoration comedy at its best. Lord Foppington, who has recently bought his peerage, arranges to marry a wealthy country heiress to go with it. But before he can meet her, his younger brother arrives on the scene pretending to be him. Meanwhile, Loveless, a reformed philanderer, arrives in London from the country with his loyal wife Amanda, and they find themselves swept up the intrigues of their friends, Berinthia and Worth.

Our Review:

23 July 2001

John Vanbrugh wrote The Relapse in 1696 as a sequel to another man's play, Colley Cibber's Love's Last Shift. The earlier piece followed the antics of Ned Loveless who - after abandoning his wife Amanda in order to indulge in booze, gambling and loose women - is lured back into marital union when the little lady poses as a courtesan and proves more than a match for his libido. In Vanbrugh's comedy, the Lovelesses are back together and blissfully content until, as the title suggests, naughty Ned relapses into his bad old ways - with, no less, his wife's cousin and confidante.

It isn't necessary to know this backstory going into The Relapse, but it certainly helps in following the machinations and motivations of the hedonists embroiled in the play's convoluted plot. Or at least one of the play's convoluted plots, the one revolving around the Lovelesses (played by James Purefoy and Imogen Stubbs) and their cunning lovers (Adrian Lukis and...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 8 October 2001:

Everyone in it is brilliant..And goldmine of a chance to see such a select group of great english actors all sharing the same stage in ensemble.. To see Alex Jennings, Brian Blessed and the great Edward Petherbridge in one evening is theatrical heaven indeed!...

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