You might guess from its title that Southwark Playhouse’s Christmas show is not your usual festive fare. Flaubert’s 19th century novel was not only a masterpiece of literary realism, it was attacked by the public prosecutors on its publication for obscenity (there was a trial and the author was acquitted). So not what you would imagine as natural material for a panto. It is surprising then how much comedy has been found by Ha Hum Ah Productions and mined by the team of four actors who play over 30 parts between them.
You have to take your hat off to this tiny troupe (and there are plenty of hats to choose from in the lightning costume changes) for their energy and versatility. The only woman, Georgia Nicholson, has one tiny role aside from her major one as Emma Bovary which is something of a tour de force as she barely leaves the stage.
Stephen Cavanagh plays so many roles I lost count – everything from a clairvoyant blind man to a Charles Bovary’s mother, all with the speediest of costume changes. Ben Kernow plays all of Emma’s lovers from smitten Leon to the vile seducer, the Viscount (as well as Ratman I). And as Emma’s hapless husband, Darren Seed looks like a simple-minded version of Chaplin’s Tramp, complete with bowler hat and funny walk. He is unrecognisable in his other appearances as the monstrous Mother Superior and the gurning Ratman 2 – he clearly has a face made of rubber.
Ratmen? No, you won’t remember them from the novel as they weren’t in it. And you really don’t have to have read the book to enjoy the show. In fact, this is established right from the start in one of the many moments when the actors step outside their roles and speak directly to the audience (in true panto style, of course) asking for a show of hands on who has actually read it (no fibbing). The interaction works well in this small, almost in-the-round space and the first time it comes with the reassurance that it’s not a sad ending in this show and Emma doesn’t commit suicide.
So, those Ratmen. The writer, John Nicholson, had the idea when originally writing a version of the play for a Radio 4 series (A Trespasser’s Guide to the Classics where the original story gets derailed). The Ratmen were there to, essentially, save Emma when, abandoned by her lovers and with no hope of ever leaving the provincial life she loathes, she decides that the answer is arsenic.
No, it doesn’t make sense and nor was it supposed to. In the end, the actors go into a huddle and appeal to the audience to decide on their ending – Emma is all for the triumph of feminism in her patriarchal world, the rest just want a bit of panto.
Certainly, there’s no shortage of that – magic tricks, firecrackers, bunches of flowers (that appear from most unusual places), flying rats, tango, dancing red brollies and the can-can. So, not your usual Christmas show, but if you fancy a night of mayhem, irreverence and boundless energy, this is the panto for you.
The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary runs until 11th January at Southwark Playhouse Borough. For more information, and for tickets, please visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk.
