AFTER a year or more of gazing at screens, it is a joy to be back inside a theatre. For a start, there is the social pleasure of seeing old friends. Then theatre, like church, allows us all to engage in an act of communal celebration. Above all, after the prosaic realism of television drama (with the honourable exception of Inside No 9), it is a pleasure to once more encounter verbal richness and intellectual vivacity.
My first visit to a theatre since December was to the Orange Tree in Richmond to see a double-bill of Shaw Shorts (until June 26). Socially distanced as we were, it was a thrill to be reminded of Shaw’s irrepressible gaiety, gift for paradox and surprising sexiness. The first play, How He Lied To Her Husband (1904), is a jeu d’esprit in which an uxorious husband relishes the fact that his wife is the recipient of amorous verses penned by a young poet. The joke is that the characters have all been to see Candida—the last Shaw play to be staged at the Orange Tree before lockdown— and are, in effect, re-enacting its triangular passions.
Overruled (1912) is the more substantial and subversive, and uncannily anticipates Coward’s Private Lives by 20 years. A young solicitor has been making love to an attractive woman during a world cruise. Both discover that their marital partners have been doing the same while also traversing the globe. What keeps this sexual quadrille airborne is the deftness with which Shaw handles a delicate situation.
Denne historien er fra June 16, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 16, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
