Mother Clap's Molly House

Synopsis

It's London, 1726, and Mrs Tull's got problems. The whores are giving her a hard time, a man in a dress is looking for a job, her husband has a roving eye, and the apprentice boy keeps disappearing on midnight walks. Meanwhile in 2001, a group of wealthy gay men are preparing for a raunchy party. Mother Clap's Molly House, a black comedy with songs, is a celebration of of the diversity of human sexuality, an exploration of our need to form families, and a fascinating insight into a hidden chapter in London's history.

Our Review:

11 February 2002

Note: This review dates from September 2001 and the production's original run at the National Theatre.

The stage safety curtain depicting London circa 1720, might have caused some wry glances on press night. Fleet Street running like a tunnel through the map has a proximity to the action of Mark Ravenhill's sordid drama that should have raised nostalgic smiles.

Holborn, nearly three hundred years ago, hosted one of the city's gay brothels. Ravenhill's play charts the possible dark beginnings of this venture, from a dress shop frequented by whores to a molly house stuffed with camp eccentrics. With an Elizabethan flourish, Mother Clap opens onto a setting which makes one wonder if an Oliver revival has been double-booked. Mops, buckets, mucky frills and peeking London steeples loom over Mrs Tull and her lustful husband.

However, before you can shout 'Gorblimey', the said husband is tucked up in his coffin, having snuffed it through a mi...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 11 March 2002:

I went on the first Saturday at the Aldwych and then on a Wednesday a few weeks ago and the Wednesday was pretty full, and the audience loved it. It has its flaws (mainly Act II), but I did enjoy this show very much ...

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