The Way of the World

Synopsis

The Way of the World" is a comedy of elegance, class, manners and deception, set in a fashionable London society that really has money and sex at the heart of its concerns. Mirabell and Millamant love each other, but they endlessly deceive other people, and each other, in order to achieve that love.

Our Review:

Sophie Bush - 7 February 2012

William Congreve’s The Way of the World is a classic Restoration drama, dishing out comedy and cruelty in equal measure. Unfaithful husbands scheme to swindle their wives out of their inheritance, Grande Dames are humiliated by imposters posing as suitors, and young lovers are kept apart by social and financial pressures. This is not, perhaps, a world where love can conquer all, but a well-planned pre-nuptial agreement can work wonders.

Lyndsey Turner’s brisk production is filled with bright young things who could belong to the 1690s, the 1920s, or the present day. As promised, Naomi Wilkinson’s multi-faceted design is both visually striking and perfectly attuned to Turner’s timeless setting. The strength of this concept lies in the fact that the plot, characters, and even much of the language of the play transpose effortlessly into a contemporary milieu. Its weakness is a fussy musical prologue that sets an odd tone for the start of the play, ...

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