Synopsis 'Unless we could make ourselves some pleasure amidst the pain, no mortal man would be able to bear it.' It's with the promise of money, glory and adventure that Captain Plume is recruiting the men of Shrewsbury for the King's army. He's also determined to make a conquest of Sylvia, but as she's now an heiress she can afford to put him to the test. All the while, the scheming Melinda is toying with the affections of Captain Brazen and the gentleman Mr Worthy. From military manoeuvring to sexual strategies, Farquhar's triumphant The Recruiting Officer, written in 1706, is an unashamed celebration of love, lustiness and victory in battle and in the bedroom.
The Recruiting Officer. Photo credit: Johan Persson
Date: 15 February 2012
Josie Rourke, the new artistic director at the Donmar Warehouse, opened The Recruiting Officer this week (14 February, previews from 9 February 2012), her first production at the helm of the Covent Garden venue.
A Restoration comedy, a new genre for the Donmar, George Farquhar’s 1706 play has proved popular with the critics.
The officers arrive in Shrewsbury to recruit soldiers for the Spanish wars. Intertwined with the continuous military tales are ribbons of twisted relationships and scheming women.
"Rourke plays a blinder: the stage, not the acting, is entirely wooden, and she somehow makes the pocket-sized arena larger … Captain Plume (Tobias Menzies, robust and likeable) and his rat-like Sergeant Kite (Mackenzie Crook, hilariously furtive and filthy) descend on Shrewsbury to press gang soldiers for the Spanish wars … George Farquhar’s beautiful Restoration comedy… a nicely complicated narrative with three plots and some of the wittiest dialogue and most elegant prose in the repertoire … The poodle-wigged fop Brazen is occupied by Mark Gatiss, all winks and smiles, and very funny, though not as lubricious … But the 'falling in love' part is beautifully done by Carroll… and Menzies … There’s a lovely performance, too, from Aimee-Ffion Edwards as the exemplary wench Rose … Tom Giles and Matthew Romain double effectively, and metaphorically, as musicians and recruits, and Gawn Graingert dithers good-heartedly as Justice Balance … So, a wonderful new start with a show that gives nothing but pleasure."
"Though the comedy is often bawdy and robust, there is a generosity of spirit, and lack of viciousness about The Recruiting Officer that proves hugely attractive … This is one of those rare evenings when one wants to go through almost the entire cast merrily sprinkling praise and approval. The performances are almost all blessed with freshness and revealing comic detail … Tobias Menzies has exactly the right blend of swagger, lust and generosity of spirit as Captain Plume … Nancy Carroll brings a lovely mixture of warmth and keen good sense … Mackenzie Crook, fresh from his success in Jerusalem, makes an unforgettable Sergeant Kite … There is tremendous work too from Rachael Stirling as the heroine’s bitchy cousin Melinda … Mark Gatiss… proves a deliciously preposterous yet oddly endearing of Restoration fop, Captain Brazen. It is a terrific evening which suggests that after Sam Mendes and Michael Grandage, the Donmar remains in safe hands under Josie Rourke."
"This play displays little of the fruity malice or camp of that genre, even if Mark Gatiss' absurd turkey cock of a Captain Brazen has the boo-hiss foppishness of a pantomime villain … Rourke massages it until it swells, and undercuts it with a touching wistfulness. At the end, the rather fabulous band … This is an evening that is clear-eyed, lacking in cynicism but also resolutely unsentimental … None more so than the love 'em and leave 'em Captain Plume (Tobias Menzies) who arrives with the unscrupulous Sergeant Kite (McKenzie Crook) ready with every trick in the book to gull the local men into signing up as cannon fodder. They are very good at their job … Rourke too proves herself a winner with this savvy, mischievous revival that is certain to drum up plenty of support for her new regime."
Libby Purves The Times ★★★★
"A hybrid between bitter satire and a conventional 1706 comedy of fops, deceits, bawdy, cross-dressing and romantic happy endings … It is an interesting choice for Josie Rourke… woven through with Michael Bruce’s folk and martial tunes from onstage musicians who play the recruiters’ prey … After the intensity and heart-shaking moments Michael Grandage has created in this space, the frothy Restoration tone at first felt odd … Rachael Sterling pouts … Mark Gatiss in a cascading periwig and rouge as Captain Brazen … Mackenzie Crook is Kite the recruiting sergeant … For all the hilarity of his tactics… Kite is the willing tool of officers too fastidious to face what they are doing. His talents are 'cozening and lying, impudence and pimping, bullying and sneering, whoring and drinking' … Rourke mainly keeps the darkness deep buried under hilarities and caricatures."
"Rourke has assembled an impressive cast … Farquhar's writing has less glitter and more vitality. Although this is conveyed here in terms that will be too broad for some, the lack of restraint is mainly a source of pleasure … Gatiss is splendidly preposterous as Brazen. Rachael Stirling delights as the haughty Melinda, a coquettish local, and Nancy Carroll brings a silvery fluency to her androgynous cousin Silvia … There's sharp work, too, from Nicholas Burns as Worthy. But the strongest performance comes from Menzies, relishing the ambiguous nature of Plume … The Donmar's playing space has been opened up invitingly and Lucy Osborne's design boasts a fairyland of candles. From the outset there's credibly rustic music composed by Michael Bruce … The result is a fresh, spirited account of a relentlessly busy play … It's an extravagant opener for the new regime at the Donmar. On this evidence, I'm recruited."
Paul Taylor Independent ★★★★
"Josie Rourke's opening shot is a gloriously witty revival of Farquhar's great 1706 play … We watch army recruiters descend on Shrewsbury primed to 'press' simple men into the military … The various members of the joyous band that has enlivened the proceedings, peel off one by one … It's an eloquent diminuendo to a production that beautifully balances the alfresco freshness of the piece and its often madly droll knowingness about theatrical convention … Nancy Caroll as a beguilngly mettlesome cross-dressing Silvia; the excellent Tobias Menzies who plays the philandering Captain Plume as a dishily grinning Hooray with a flashes of more complex hinterland … Painted face framed with beribboned poodle curls, Mark Sherlock Gatiss is in hilarious form … Mackenzie Crook is killingly funny as he glares through Groucho Marx eyelashes in improviser's panic in the scene where he poses as a fortune teller. Here's my prediction: this is going to be a great new regime at the Donmar."
Josie Rourke bows as the new artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in a blaze of footlights and coloured candles, red coats and muskets, live chickens and apples, and a poignant chorus of “Over the Fields and Far Away” as the new recruits down musical instruments and depart for war.
Following Michael Grandage, let alone Sam Mendes, in the hot seat was always going to be a tough call. Wisely, Rourke and her designer, the brilliantly resourceful Lucy Osborne, avoid any hint of flagstones, incense, high tall windows, existentialism and clever wraparound soundscape.
In fact, Rourke plays a blinder: the stage, not the acting, is entirely wooden, and she somehow makes the pocket-sized arena larger, and more open, as Captain Plume (Tobias Menzies, robust and likeable) and his rat-like Sergeant Kite (Mackenzie Crook, hilariously furtive and filthy) descend on Shrewsbury to press gang soldiers for the Spanish wars.
George Farquhar’s beautiful Restoration comedy – just the thought of it makes me go weak at the knees – is a very good choice: an array of good roles, a tough kernel in the army game, a nicely complicated narrative with three plots and some of the wittiest dialogue and most elegant prose in the repertoire.
There’s a wonderful pairing, too, of Nancy Carroll as Silvia, testing her chosen lover, Plume, in a boy’s disguise, and Rachael Stirling as her cousin, the affected heiress Melinda, sorting out the sallies of a silly old fop and an eager chap called, inevitably, Mr Worthy.
The poodle-wigged fop Brazen is occupied by Mark Gatiss, all winks and smiles, and very funny, though not as lubricious, obviously, as Olivier was in the legendary National production. But the “falling in love” part is beautifully done by Carroll, who manages to be both hearty and vulnerable, and Menzies, who throws off his rakish reputation with a splendid flourish.
There’s a lovely performance, too, from Aimeé-Ffion Edwards as the exemplary wench Rose, losing more than her chickens in the cause of consigning her brother to the ranks. Tom Giles and Matthew Romain double effectively, and metaphorically, as musicians and recruits, and Gawn Grainger dithers good-heartedly as Justice Balance.
So, a wonderful new start with a show that gives nothing but pleasure. The editing of the text is good, too, though I’m sorry to see that Kite’s speech about the Bed of Ware has been adjusted to something less pertinent called the bed of honour. If we can live with the same reference in Twelfth Night, we can take it in Farquhar, guv.
The first thing you notice on entering the Donmar is that the decorators have been in; the walls behind the stalls have gone and some of the seats now have floral cushion covers - the new female regime has already made an impression! We were sitting next to Joise Rourke at the WoS Awards Show and she seemed remarkably relaxed about following the legendary Michael Grandage, but she already knew her first production was a winner. The Recruiting Officer is a riotous Restoration comedy of press gangs, bogus fortune tellers, gender swaps and countless romantic triangles. It's completely bonkers and far funnier than She Stoops to Conquer at the National. A very starry cast are on top form with Aimee-Ffion Edwards, singing prettily as she did in Jerusalem, as a stunningly dopey and libidinous wench. Rachael Stirling seems to have picked up improvisational skills from her partner Oliver Chris (...Guvnors), ad libbing brilliantly when she spotted Katherine Parkinson in the second row. A quintet of actor musicians provide a range of English folk songs (as well as an hilarious mobile phone warning) and also a Journeys End style ending as we are reminded that these men have been press ganged into service as probable cannon fodder. That's rather a downbeat ending for a terrific and marvellously ridiculous show which makes for a great start to the reign of Good Queen Josie. - David Baxter
30 Mar 12
Just great fun with a fantastic ensemble. Nancy delightful as Sylvia, Rachael over the top as posh Melinda, Mackenzie brillliant as ambitious Kite supported by a great cast&musicians. - ELisabeth
28 Feb 12
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Josie Rourke proves here that she can assemble a wonderful cast. For me, the production was entertaining, but never seemed to fully harness the immense talents of the cast, sparking most fully to life when Mark Gatiss and Aimee-Ffion Edwards were on stage. Gatiss' preening smiling fop and Edwards' husky dizzy lovelorn simpleton had me laughing continuously. Mackenzie Crook's stint as a phony fortune teller and sly recruiting officer was also inspired, as was Rachael Stirling's phony posh accent. 3 STARS. - steveatplays
23 Feb 12
I wasn’t very excited by Josie Rourke’s opening season at the Donmar, but I may have to eat a few words. Her opener is something the Donmar doesn’t normally do (restoration comedy) and it gets a handsome production with a full set of great performances.
The theatre has had its biggest makeover since the 25th Putman County Spelling Bee. It has been turned into an 18th century playhouse with the stalls back wall removed, the circle railing replaced with a wooden one, wooden floors and (false) wooden ceiling, a painted back screen with candle holders and real lit candles, more real lit candles around the auditorium and three chandeliers, also with real lit candles! Lucy Osbornes’ setting is warm, welcoming and gorgeous, as are the period costumes.
George Farquhar’s comedy takes place in Tewksbury where two army captains are recruiting using all means, fair and foul. Both have designs on different local girls, Sylvia and Melinda – who also has the attentions of local businessman Worthy. The girls fall out and Sylvia returns disguised as a man, Wilful, who both captains seek to recruit. Captain Plumes’s Sargent Kite plumbs new depths of deception, there’s a lot of confusion but it all ends happily – except for the recruits. It’s a comedy but it does make a serious point about the treatment of recruits and ends with a powerful statement as they head for the war.
In addition to the lovely design, the use of music is terrific. The jigs and reels played brilliantly by five of the actors add much – including a delicious twist on the ‘turn off you mobiles’ advice now common at the start of plays. The performances too are terrific, with Nancy Carroll and Rachel Stirling as Sylvia and Melinda shining and Tobias Menzies commanding the stage with great authority as Captain Plume. Mark Gattis’ excellent comic turn as Captain Brazen suggests we need to see as much of him on stage as we already do his League of Gentlemen colleagues Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. The other two leads, Nicholas Burns as Worthy and Mackenzie Crook as Sargent Kite, complete an excellent set of leads and the supporting cast of eight are all excellent.
Somehow though it didn’t add up to the sum of the parts; the first half in particular was uneven and didn’t sweep you away anywhere near as much as the second half did. I don’t know whether this is the play or the production. It’s not the complete delight the NT’s She Stoops to Conquer is, but it’s still an impressive start to the Rourke reign. Don’t wear too many clothes though, as for some reason the Donmar is set at sauna level temperatures. - Gareth James
22 Feb 12
A wall's been knocked down and the seats are covered in chintz....oh a woman must have taken over at the Donmar. The fabric is vile and the lack of wall makes the actors shout to be heard, I hope both are temporary measures. As for the show, I agree with rds but not for quite the same reasons. The play really dragged but mainly due to the miscasting of comedians who can't act and some actors who can't keep up. The set looked like a theme pub. - coral
Re-opened in 1992. Seats 254. 1999 - Ambassador Theatre Group takes over from the Associated Capital Theatres as the landlord of the Donmar Warehouse. 2002 - Michael Grandage succeeds Sam Mendes as Artistic Director of the Donmar. Nick Frankfort succeeds Caro Newling as Executive Producer.
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