Pierre Marivaux’s 18th Century comedy drama, The False Servant is running at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond from 9th June to 23rd July.
The play is translated by Martin Crimp. Directed by Paul Miller and set in the 1920’s, the comedy explores the complexities of gender, sexuality and money.
In the plot of The False Servant, Lelio (played by Julian Moore-Cook) is a cynical man that plans to take a rich woman’s money and run off with a more lucrative potential fiancée. The mistake he makes is confiding in Le Chevalier (played by Lizzy Watts), a woman disguised as the son of an aristocrat. Le Chevalier embarks on a plan that will expose the dark heart of this male power-play.
Part of this plan is to woe Countess (played by Phoebe Pryce) for herself (with the Countess believing her to be a man) and expose Lelio’s cynical plan. My sympathy in the play is with Countess that is being duped into marrying a man who basically just wants her money and little else and yet I don’t fully trust the intentions of Le Chevalier. Is Le Chevalier duping her as well?
Overall the play gives a cynical look on how easily people can be bought and sold. The performances by all the actors is very entertaining with moments of hilarity throughout. Will Brown’s Trivelin really brings the most comedic elements to the play. He plays a charismatic, impoverished wine-loving aristocrat turned homeless servant who will do anything for a franc. He has some of the best one-liners. His reference to a cashless world does point to the excuses we make to homeless people in this post covid era where none of us carry cash when asked by homeless people.
The Orange Tree Theatre, in its layout is the perfect location for this play that does not rely on any theatre set and props but focuses entirely on the interactions and performances of the actors. This allows the audience to feel like they are a part of this immersive performance.
The False Servant is runs at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond from 9th June to 23rd July.
To book tickets visit https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/
