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Sparking, uproarious comedy, bursting with elegant, biting but warm-hearted wit and revelling in its own mastery of theatrical skill. --The Sunday Times
The play brims with brio and youthful high spirits. --The Independent
The play brims with brio and youthful high spirits. --The Independent
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Written in 30 days flat, and staged at Covent Garden in 1841 when the author was only twenty-one, "London Assurance" is regularly rediscovered for the small comedic masterpiece it is. Published to accompany a new production on the biggest of the National Theatre stages in March 2010, starring Simon Russell Beale, this Drama Classics edition includes a full introduction, a stage history, a chronology and a glossary.
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Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
First staged when Boucicault was at the tender age of 21, 'London Assurance' is one of the wittiest and most erudite Victorian satires of the upper class. The play centers around the engagement between the ageing, blustering Sir Harcourt Courtly, and the attractive, indifferent Grace Harcourt; a situation confused by Harcourt's son appearing in disguise, and falling in love with Grace, a flirtatious lady tasked with the mission of attracting Sir Harcourt, and a cast of other believable, if slightly type-moulded characters. Boucicault's play is at it's best when dealing with this issue of deception, and the scenes between the manipulating Lady Gay, and the adoring Sir Harcourt play out wonderfully, producing some of the play's best lines, and most amusingly convoluted situations. The play's characters are enjoyable as a whole though, and none more so than Sir Harcourt's butler Cool, who, upon being told that the town he is visiting has 2,000 inhabitans, sarcastically replies, "I'm delighted to hear it, sir!". Indeed, it is remarkable how well most of the play's wit still holds up, being not only accessible, but also at times, laugh-out-loud hilarious, a full 170 years after it's first production.
There are mis-steps in Boucicault's play, though. The character of Mark Meddle, the Lawyer, skirts too close to simple caricature, and takes away from the play's better-written action; as does Meddle's yearning for the cold, one dimensional character of Mrs. Pert. Elsewhere, Boucicault's play finishes in slightly too farcical a manner, which is a little bit of a disappointment, considering that one of the play's main draws, is the feasibility of its comic events and misunderstandings. These faults though, do not take away too greatly, from an (often overlooked) comic gem, which will amuse, enlighten and expose the hypocrisies of the Victorian upper-class, for the present-day reader.
There are mis-steps in Boucicault's play, though. The character of Mark Meddle, the Lawyer, skirts too close to simple caricature, and takes away from the play's better-written action; as does Meddle's yearning for the cold, one dimensional character of Mrs. Pert. Elsewhere, Boucicault's play finishes in slightly too farcical a manner, which is a little bit of a disappointment, considering that one of the play's main draws, is the feasibility of its comic events and misunderstandings. These faults though, do not take away too greatly, from an (often overlooked) comic gem, which will amuse, enlighten and expose the hypocrisies of the Victorian upper-class, for the present-day reader.
Format:Paperback
Boucicault's 1841 romp is a halfway house between Sheridan and Wilde, and has been updated for modern audiences without losing its post-regency flavour. The plot - of a father and son both pursuing the same young lady - has the classic elements of farce with mistaken identity, failed plots and romantic confusion. The characters are classic archetypes: a vain and amorous city gent, his handsome but naïve son, an aloof but clever butler (a prototype of Jeeves), a modest young belle, a conniving lawyer and a rumbustious foxhunting lady going by the glorious appellation of 'Lady Gay Spanker'.
The dialogue is razor-sharp and the jokes boisterous without being crass. Most of the humour comes from clever word-play that foreshadows Wilde and Wodehouse, while the author treats all of his characters fairly (except Meddle the lawyer, who is described as "a stain looking for a sheet"). There is an added bonus in that the female characters are intellectually the match of the males, and the young heiress Grace is quick-witted and likeable rather than merely decorative.
This new version has had a successful recent run in London, and looks like it will have a happy afterlife on the amateur circuit (it had better: I'm playing Cool the butler in June).
The dialogue is razor-sharp and the jokes boisterous without being crass. Most of the humour comes from clever word-play that foreshadows Wilde and Wodehouse, while the author treats all of his characters fairly (except Meddle the lawyer, who is described as "a stain looking for a sheet"). There is an added bonus in that the female characters are intellectually the match of the males, and the young heiress Grace is quick-witted and likeable rather than merely decorative.
This new version has had a successful recent run in London, and looks like it will have a happy afterlife on the amateur circuit (it had better: I'm playing Cool the butler in June).
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