Download She Stoops to Conquer Review

Set in the late 18th century, She Stoops to Conquer is a humorous and exciting romp
from start to finish. Directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace, the 3 hour production kept the
audience enthralled all the way through. With beautifully painted scenery, the set
(complete with giant pigs) was like a toy theatre, and provided an ideal backdrop for
the story of Tony Lumpkin’s trick on the prospective lover of his sister. Chris Nayak
starred at the trickster, and gave a brilliant performance, especially excelling when
sat on a toy horse! The actors provide their own sound effects, and credit must go to
Maxwell Hutcheon for a very convincing “MOO” in the second act! A small string
orchestra and the songs from the actors tie the play together. This is definitely a
must see, and deserves 5 stars!!
Bronwen Webster, The Bluecoat School
Pitman-Wallace Conquers the Playhouse!
Once upon a time, in a far away Nottingham Playhouse was an 18th century
adaptation of “She Stoops To Conquer”. Set in a storybook style (and almost
bordering pantomime), the audience were simply “conquered” by the performance.
Returning to the Playhouse, director Lucy Pitman-Wallace mentioned that she “just
wanted to see how it might work”. However, from the audiences’ reaction and
plentiful laughs, it appears that this play really did “work”.
In addition, the cast must be accredited, as they were especially strong throughout
this comedy, particularly Ellie Beaven portraying the part of Kate Hardcastle. Her
constant delivery and effective character change (whilst pretending to be a barmaid)
proved truly comical; the eccentric character was utterly credible. On the other hand,
the stylistic form and “over the top” style became rather tiresome in areas and some
characters became almost unconvincing in their role. Although, finishing on a
positive note, the performances were very thorough and the characters seemed to
bring the painted set “to life”. Their reactions were so detailed that Hastings
response to the hot fireplace gave a near impression of flickering flames.
Comparable to the characters, the set was not naturalistic in the least. Nevertheless,
it appeared particularly successful and in parts, causing an uproar of laughter
amongst the audience members; For instance, the signs indicating new places in the
scene and the large moving dogs, nearly knocking Marlow from his feet!
Moreover with the technical side of production, the actors produced their own sound
effects: some which demonstrated skill and humour but others that proved
unsuccessful and mystifying. “What is that?” queried a nearby audience member to
the howling wind produced onstage. This mixture of stylistic theatre and pantomime
did not seem to associate profitably.
However the applause from all, young and older, demonstrated that “She Stoops To
Conquer” really is a play to be enjoyed by all at the Nottingham Playhouse this
season. Anyone seeking light-hearted humour and a savour of pantomime, without
the real thing, should definitely see this pleasant, classic performance before the end
of the month.
Lorna Flint, The Minster School
She stoops to Conquer is a truly comical, joyous and enjoyable play to watch it is set
in 18th century. Initially I thought the play would be difficult to understand because
the language and the era it is set in, but I was pleasantly surprised when I
understood the jokes and enjoying the storyline and most importantly I was really
entertained by the actual play.
The play was directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace. It is one of Oliver Goldsmith’s
remarkable comedies. The storyline was very clever. All the characters brought
ridicule and amusement to the stage. I felt as if they made a great connection
towards the audience, and everybody grasped the humour very quickly.
I also found the characteristics of the characters funny because the personalities
contrasted well to give the audience a spectacle of upper and lower class division
especially when Edmund Kingsley was having long encounter with Chris Nayak
about directions and when the landlord Maxwell Hutcheon joined with the conceited
act of leading them in the wrong direction it was a very humourous scene to witness.
I also thought Edmund and Peter Basham gave a great portrayal of pompous,
superior autocratic citizens. As did all the actors with their other roles. It was really
believable and everyone did well at playing high other demanding roles throughout.
The transition from a highly respectable woman, then playing a maid the next minute
was extremely funny and it was played well by Ellie Beaven.
The costumes were beautifully designed and resembled the characters really well:
the more upper class had intricately designed garments whilst the more lower class
had more ragged wear .
The music aspect was good. Some of the cast were involved with the string quartet
within the play which was nice to see. Also the music brought a relaxed atmosphere.
The Set was fantastic. It had vivid imagery and it was decorative and imaginative.
In conclusion, this play is worth seeing .It was a great relaxing evening out full of
witty humour and it was extremely well directed. The cast are professional and great
to watch.
Five out of Five stars. I recommend this to anyone who would like a good, nice
family evening out full of laughter!
Nicole Lawrence, Arnold Hill School
Nestled in the English countryside, ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is a classic romantic
comedy set in 1773 and written by Oliver Goldsmith. ‘The Mistakes of a Night’
proves to be an apt subtitle as the mischievous antics of spoilt Tony Lumpkin trigger
a myriad of misunderstandings which soon cause matters to spiral wildly out of
control. Hardcastle Hall becomes entangled with the convoluted safekeeping of
jewels, is mistaken as an inn and an impersonator emerges within the household, all
whilst the squire’s daughter Kate struggles to communicate with the eligible yet
tongue-tied bachelor Marlow. The director Lucy Pitman-Wallace stays true to original
script whilst ensuring the play still entertains the modern audience, aided by the
consistent acting skills of the talented cast including Ellie Beaven, Chris Nayak and
Peter Basham. The story book backdrop adds to the idyllic image alongside
authentic music, completing the overall pleasant ambiance of the play.
Sophie French, The Becket School
The Becket School, Becket Way
Wilford Lane
West Bridgford
NG2 7QY
12th September 2010
Dear Ms Pitman-Wallace,
My name is Cait Ramsden, and I am 15 years of age. I attend the Becket School in
West Bridgford, and was given the opportunity to be involved in the Critics Circle
scheme through my drama teacher which entails attending several plays at the
Playhouse and writing a review about them. After having been given the list of plays,
I was specifically looking forward to viewing ‘She stoops to conquer’ as the title of
this play appealed to me, as did many newspaper reviews. I was intrigued to
discover how the set would be presented, and how the characters would be dressed.
I am particularly interested in this element of theatre and was eager to see this
aspect of the play.
One of the largely frequent themes within the play is the use of dramatic irony, and I
enjoyed the fact the audience knew that Hastings and Marlow were the victims of a
hoax, yet they journeyed to Hardcastle Hall unaware of this and belittled Mr.
Hardcastle and treated him as an innkeeper. The set was very interesting in a pop
up story book style, which manipulated several features of 18th century homes such
as large images of prize farm animals or dogs. Furthermore, the set enhanced the
atmosphere of the play, and indicated to the audience its jovial genre. The transition
between each scene was well coordinated, and captivated the audience whilst
engaging with each audience member. It is my opinion that the way the characters
communicated with each other was extremely well directed, and the comparison of
status between Squire Hardcastle and Marlow added to the comedic atmosphere of
the play.
I shall most definitely encourage friends and family to see ‘She stoops to conquer’ as
it was a largely amusing play with various jokes and hilarious insinuations which the
audience can relate to. I think it may be targeted for an older audience; however I am
sure many younger people will too enjoy this spectacle as I did.
I am extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to see such a play, and I
am in awe of the techniques used and the manipulation of such features used in the
18th century. I wish you luck in any further projects, and would love to see any further
plays directed by you.
Yours faithfully,
Cait Ramsden
This jolly play is enjoyable and easy to watch, directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace the
18th century comedy has been pumped with colour and youth while still sticking to
the traditional quality of the text and the playful cartoon drawings on the set matched
in with the childlike theme. It’s a love story full of misunderstandings between
characters but has a plot that isn’t too complicated and is full of friendly humour.
‘Kate’, Ellie Beaven was sweetly feminine with the perfect amount of vulnerability,
but kept a naughty comical twist to her character which contrasted nicely with the
male characters. Chris Nayak ‘Lumpkin’ was particularly funny and played a
loveable, mischievous part and Maxwell Hotcheon played multiple roles, but it was
the ones with hardly any lines that were his most interesting to watch. It is about 2
hours and a sweet, delightful viewing.
Gemma Caseley-Kirk, Carlton Le Willows School
This Autumn, Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company brings to life a new
production of 'She Stoops To Conquer'; an English comedy classic by Oliver
Goldsmith. 'She Stoops To Conquer' is light hearted tale which is powered along by
the larger-than-life characters.
The two main themes of the play; class-consciousness and deception and trickery,
are made obvious throughout the story, and the director (Lucy Pitman-Wallace) and
cast explore them in many ways. I was impressed with how the actors were
constantly aware of the themes, and managed to bring them across in their
performance, without forgetting the humour! For example they kept a sense of
suspicion to their characters, but exaggerated it in order to make the characters’
sneaky actions noticeable and funny.
The brightly coloured set is immediately welcoming, as you are greeted by a
magnificent border of golden swirls and angels. Jessica Curtis' inspiration for the
comically stylized set and costumes comes from the period's balloon-like portraits of
prize animals. Curtis' idea of mixing realistic period style design and her own pop-up
storybook style creation didn't work quite as well as it could have. Although I liked
the design, I found that a giant Dalmatian gliding across the set was completely
irrelevant and made the play seem even more unrealistic than it already was.
The cast's many musical talents were put to use and I really enjoyed the music and
singing because not only was it very good, but it really made the audience feel more
involved. I was particularly impressed by the acting ability of Kate (Ellie Beaven), Mr
Hardcastle (Mike Burnside) and Tony Lumpkin (Chris Nayak) because they all had
very strong characters and I think they did these characters justice. I understand that
exaggerated acting was relevant to the time period, but I think at times this was
taken too far and made the story unbelievable.
One of my favourite moments was when Marlow finally realised that he was at
Hardcastle Hall. It was a moment the audience had been waiting for and when he
realised, it gave the audience the chance to have a good laugh at the gullible
character, the laugh you'd wanted to blurt out right from the beginning. I also enjoyed
when the characters reacted to the inappropriate scenery, and gave the look of
'What on Earth is a giant pig doing in Hardcastle Hall?' which is what I had been
wondering from the very first scene.
A weak moment for me was the ending. Although the performance got stronger and
stronger as the chaos escalated, when the ending arrived, it was exactly what I
expected to happen. This made the whole thing just seem rather obvious.
Overall, I found that with a light-hearted play, a nursery rhyme style set, and 'overthe-top' acting was all too much fun for me to actually take the play seriously. I didn't
find myself particularly influenced or inspired by the show, but I did have a very
enjoyable night and some good laughs!
Beatrice Findley, The Becket School
The Kimberley School
Newdigate Street
Kimberley
Nottingham
NG16 2NJ
14/09/10
Dear Mr Chris Nayak,
My name is Charlotte Winterburn; I am 17 years old and a student at The Kimberley
School Sixth Form. I came to watch ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ on Tuesday 7 th
September as a new member of the Critics Circle. I laughed my socks off all night at
the hilarious comedy, and when I went back to school the next day, it was revealed
that my A level drama class is going to see it on the 16th September as well. I
declined going to view it again, but I sung the entire performance praises.
Out of all the characters in the performance, Tony Lumpkin was my favourite. I
thought how you brought him to life was fantastic, the over characterisation of him
suited the performance to a T and I have to say that you really inspired me as a
drama student. My favourite moment of the play has to be at the start of the
performance, when Tony and friends are singing in the pub. It set the play off with a
bang as I heard many audience members laughing uncontrollably. It was well and
truly fun to watch and really made me, as an audience member, want to jump up on
stage and join in.
I have come to learn that every actor has taken their own individual route into their
acting career, and I was just wondering if you would tell me how you came about
yours? I have one last question, apparently over characterisation is my best acting
style - I definitely enjoy it the most - and I would also like to know if you have any
good ideas for rehearsal techniques to help play such extreme characters as part of
my drama course.
I have already told my drama class that ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is well worth seeing
on an educational level as well as just for fun and entertainment. Last year we were
studying ‘The Country Wife’ which is a restoration comedy. Some people are resitting the exam and I think ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is the perfect opportunity for the
class to see a period comedy on stage, with the added benefit of getting to grips with
the language.
I wish you the very best in all performances you go on to do in the future, and would
like to thank you for taking your time to read my letter. I would wish you luck, but I
know it’s not really the best thing to say to actors, so instead: Go break a leg!
Yours sincerely
Charlotte Winterburn
In Lucy Pittman-Wallace's charming interpretation of the Oliver Goldsmith's comic
play “She Stoops to Conquer, the audience were left satisfied by the original and
intelligent set design on top of the humorous, albeit somewhat confusing, storyline.
The characters are all likeable and well played, particularly Ellie Beaven captivating
portrayal of Kate Hardcastle. One aspect which particularly made this production
was the simplicity. The set was predominantly 2-dimensional, the lighting was basic
throughout and the sound effects were all done on stage using simple props, for
example instead of a tape of horses walking, two of the cast members just mimicked
the sound using simple instruments. Not only did this act to the humour, but it made
the performance feel more comfortable and approachable. Although I felt the play
was a little too long, and the motives of the characters were sometimes unknown,
“She Stoops to Conquer,” is a light-hearted and delightful comedy, entirely worth the
ticket price.
Sarah Ahmad Nottingham High School For Girls
A typical tale of courtship and class consciousness is brought to life at the
Nottingham Playhouse by the internationally acclaimed director Lucy Pitman-Wallace
who adds sparkle and boisterousness to the much loved play ‘She Stoops to
Conquer.’ The classic 18th century language and costume may deceive you into
thinking it will be a dull play full of monotonous dialogue. However, do not be
deceived as the cleverly constructed ‘Toy Theatre’ set, the animal noises made by
the cast and the informal way the characters address the audience turn an 18th
century play into a 21st century hit.
As a young lady begins a courtship with a nervous and modest man, she wants
excitement, whilst he is so scared of courting an upper class lady, he can’t even look
at her. Yet as she pretends to be a lower class maid, he believes she is a different
woman and falls madly in love. But does he realise she was the same woman all
along? The humorous yet enchanting story is surrounded by other comical
characters including the young woman’s mischief making brother, Mr Lumpkin. The
richly experienced cast take on the larger than life characters, add individuality and
show light and dark with huge success.
The juxtaposition of an 18th century courtship with the practical jokes and humorous
dialogue that still connects with the modern audience males this play individual and
enthralling throughout. Although at times the dialogue may seem to drag on a little,
an unexpected noise or informal phrase always adds the extra sparkle that makes
this play a hit.
This play would appeal to a wide audience of both young and old as it captures the
comedy of such traditional themes, making it a different and enjoyable experience.
Amelia Beckett, The Bluecoat School
She Stoops To Conquer.
In this energetic, colourful play of “She Stoops To Conquer” the stage comes alive
with music, singing and comedy.
Squire Hardcastle, a pompous man, wants Mr Marlow, a rich one, for his beautiful
daughter Kate. Mr Marlow is not very good at talking to ladies of standing but flirting
with maids, barmaids or anyone under him is no problem. Kate and her friend
Constance have a lovely scene where they talk about Mr Marlow and Kate’s brother,
Tony Lumpkin, who Kate’s step mother wants Constance to marry. Meanwhile Mr
Marlow and his friend Mr Hastings are on their way to Squire Hardcastle’s house but
they think they are lost so in despair they enter a bar for directions. There they meet
Tony who tells them, as a joke, that Hardcastle Hall is an upper class inn where they
can rest until morning. When they get there they are rude to Squire Hardcastle whom
they think is an inn keeper and they also meet Kate and Constance. It is discovered
that Constance and Mr Hastings are secretly in love. Mr Marlow tries to talk to Kate
but isn’t very good at it and blunders on about rubbish for a few minutes before
hurriedly exiting. Later Mr Marlow sees her again but as she is dressed in her
‘modest clothes’, as her father calls them, Marlow thinks she is a barmaid and starts
to flirt with her. Soon everyone is confused, accept the audience, and things go even
more wrong! Will Tony be found out in the end? Will everything be worked out?
Directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace and acted by Playhouse regulars this is a funny,
cartoonish play. Ellie Beaven played her part of Kate Hardcastle perfectly as did
Mike Burnside, Joan Moon, Chris Nayak, Edmund Kingsley, Peter Basham, Thomas
Eyre and Rina Mahoney.
The costumes were big, bright and just right for the time period. The set, which was
designed to look like a 18th century children’s 2D paper theatre, was inspiring.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this show.
8/10
Lucy Daunt, Highfields School
She Stoops To Conquer is a serious comedy set in the 18th century about two
gentlemen looking for wives and two ladies looks for husbands. Lots of funny
mistakes are made by everyone before the end of the play.
The set design was very stylish and like a cartoon. The set changes were very quick
and the whole was very good. The best set was the dining room because there were
a lot more props and a lot more to the set. It was also a much brighter set.
The whole cast of She Stoops To Conquer were very good. I liked the singing
most, especially Chris Nayak who played Tony Lumpkin.
The best part of the play is where Tony Lumpkin is talking to Hastings in the woods
being overheard by his mother.
The "eh hem" bits made me laugh.
There were no bad bits in She Stoops To Conquer.
The cast and director did a good job.
She Stoop To Conquer is a fabulous play. I would recommend it to people of all
ages. It is a very funny “love comedy”. I would be glad to see more shows directed
by Lucy - Pitman Wallace.
Sam Brown, Woodlands School
She Stoops to Conquer was produced at Nottingham Playhouse as an effective new
look at Oliver Goldsmith’s classic comedy of manners, and director Lucy PitmanWallace brought a lot of fun to the stage, not something that you would think a
faithful reading of a 230 year old script would lend itself to.
The most striking aspect of this production was the sheer lack seriousness with
which it took itself, with its cartoon setting, and self-made sound effects. This was
immensely refreshing and gave off the immediate and accurate impression that the
audience could relax and enjoy. The production successfully fought the tendency of
comedies of manners to get bogged in dry jokes hidden in pages of speech no one
can understand while, impressively, leaving the original text virtually untouched. The
drawback to this faithfulness is that the play’s pace was slow, especially towards the
end, but this was more than made up for by constant, genuinely funny comedy, not
to mention the live musical sections, that brought the play straight the audience.
The characters provide the comic centrepieces, in particular the pompous Mr
Hardcastle, played by Mike Burnside, who really excelled in the role, and on whom
many of the dryer scenes hung. The absolute contrast to Hardcastle was the vulgar
and bawdy Tony Lumpkin played by Chris Nayak with sheer energy the part
required, his ability simply to talk in such antiquated expressions so naturally and
comically was of huge benefit to the production, and a real selling point, I would have
paid for these two performances alone. This is not to overlook the terrific double act
of Marlow and Hastings, played by Edmund Kingsley and Peter Basham. Although
the female characters all have moments of glory, more could have been brought to
the production if the female roles had been as vivid and rich as the male, but this
deficit was as much in the writing as in the performance.
Overwhelmingly this production was funny, farcical and good old fashioned fun.
Timothy McConnell, Chilwell Comprehensive
On Tuesday the 7th of September I was privileged to watch the production at the
Nottingham Playhouse, ‘She stoops to conquer’ written by Oliver Goldsmith.
The play is about Kate, the daughter of a wealthy country squire (Mr. Hardcastle)
who has a meeting arranged, by her father, to meet Charles Marlow, the son of an
aristocrat, in hope for the young adults to marry. On Charles Marlow’s journey
accompanied by his friend Hastings, they come across a village inn and stop there to
get their bearing. Here Tony Lumpkin, Mr. Hardcastle’s second wife’s son overhears
their conversation; he leads the two men to Mr. Hardcastle’s house, but tells them
that it is an inn. This causes unfortunate and humorous misunderstandings
throughout the play.
The best scene, in my opinion, in the production is when Charles Marlow’s gets
anxious talking to young women of equal social standing and it gets the better of him
and won’t even look at Kate’s face at their meeting
I felt that the set was very clever and most of it wouldn’t be seen in modern theatre,
such as bits of the set being pushed out onto the stage and the sun and moon hung
down from the ceiling. In my opinion this worked very well, as the play is set in the
18th century and the characters were presented as if they knew that they are acting
in a play.
I felt the strongest actors in this production were Mike Burnside (Mr. Hardcastle),
Chris Nayak (Tony Lumpkin) and Rina Mahoney (Constance Neville), because I
thought that their acting was the most believable spectacular, although I felt the other
characters were phenomenal as well.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed that play and wouldn’t hesitate to see it again; I would
recommend everyone to watch this wonderful show. I really liked the director’s take
on the production, she made it very interesting and enjoyable, and I would definitely
go to see another show directed by Lucy.
Alia Osman Britton, Manning School for Girls
Written in the 18th century by Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops To Conquer is a comedy
about trickery and finding love in different ways. The play has hardly been altered
since the original and Lucy Pitman-Wallace (director) has kept a lot of the aspects of
18th century theatre the same as well which, surprisingly, works in a quirky,
pantomime kind of way, generating a lot of laughs.
The set for this play was filled with larger than life animals (a trend often followed in
the 1700's) and hearty country scenes and the banners that descended from the
ceiling added to the playful over the top, jokey atmosphere. The set design was
complimented by the over the top costumes, with big skirts and bright colours, a
representation of the general feeling of the play. In any other production this may
have seemed too much but it had good effect here, sending a hearty message into
the audience.
The cast were equally bright and breezy, although at times it could seem a little
forced and ditsy to some. However, if taken lightly and in good nature the feeling
generated was definitely a friendly one. The 18th century acting style came through
again within the cast, as you almost felt the cast knew they were acting, again
mirroring the pantomime genre. Some of the plots were a bit clichéd and corny but
the actors definitely made it entertaining and brought the whole performance up to a
higher standard, in the sense that it was not a show being put on for small children.
Despite it’s early script, the performance still seemed quite relevant, the language is
hardly any different and even one of the lines about government could relate to
modern day, one should not be put off by the age of the play, in fact in some ways it
makes it more interesting. This is definitely a show well worth watching, even just for
the fact that it's something different, and if not taken very seriously it is definitely a
good night's entertainment.
Erica Wallis, Nottingham Academy
With excellent brightly coloured costumes, funky set and props, straight away She
Stoops to Conquer will be sure to uplift your mood.
The plot line is of a young girl set to marry, her husband-to-be and his friend getting
lost on the way to her fathers’ house, and both then falling in love with other people.
The outstanding performance from the cast, the excellent script, and humour so
funny you’ll laugh until your tummy hurts; there is even a little sing-song in parts! All
add to the hilarious classic love story.
Themes of love, comedy and romance fit perfectly in the story line. The exaggerated
reactions and expressions given by the characters, add to the humour, and all
together create an outstanding performance.
However, the plot is hard to grasp, with humour that only adults may understand. Not
recommended to under 15’s. It runs for a total of 2 hours.
Nikki Charlesworth, George Spencer
‘She Stoops to Conquer’ originally written by Oliver Goldsmith an 18th century
comedy full of larger than life creatures, tantrums, and fancy fashions. This
production directed by Lucy Pittman-Wallace express the love and hate, between
two families.
Mr.Hardcastle, of Hardcastle Hall believes he has found a perfect match for his
daughter, Kate Hardcastle, his good friend’s son, Mr.Marlow. He is a gentlemanly
fellow, wealthy and handsome; and Kate definitely approves! When Mr.Marlow,
along with Mr Hastings, arrive at Hardcastle hall, (misdirected by Tony LumpkinMrs.Hardcastles son), he mistakes it for an inn. Miss Neville Constance meets her
lover, Mr Hastings once again and although she is to be married to Tony Lumpkin,
whom she hates, she plots to run away with her fortune and be with Mr.Hastings with
the help of her cousin Tony! Will Miss Neville end up happy? Will Mr.Marlow and
Kate fall in love? Does love conquer all?
The setting of this 18th century play is very fun, with political cartoons. This play
replicates Hogarth techniques with comic like set features. i.e the use of oversized
animals. This is play is also set in the countryside, and shows a clear difference
between the fashions in the countryside and London. The set looks quite like a ’toy
theatre’, with very little props and fancy dressed characters. This makes the set very
appealing to the eye.
During this performance, actors do a lot of sound affects themselves and becomes
quite ‘pantomime-y’ with large signs to tell you where things are. It is not a
naturalistic drama as the set becomes a lot like a pop up story book!
Sophie Wildeman, Dayncourt School