Review: HABEAS CORPUS, Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre

40 (or so) years on from its West End debut, Alan Bennett's naughty farce, Habeas Corpus, is back on the (almost bare) stage and squeezing a few more laughs out of what proves to be a somewhat tired script.

We're in Hove, suburban enough to be respectable, close enough to Brighton to be not respectable, where Arthur Wicksteed pursues a medical career halfheartedly and women wholeheartedly. Women except his wife, Muriel, who has the statuesque figure the doctor's sister, Constance, craves (if you're sensing a whiff of Benny Hill about this, you're not wrong). She's pursued by a frustrated cleric (this is Alan Bennett after all) and there's an alluring young woman called (as they all seemed to be in 1974) Felicity, and a cleaning lady... and there's a few more too, but you get the picture. It's farce!

Jasper Britton brings an oily, entitled charm to his libidinous GP and Catherine Russell keeps things light in a part that could easily tilt into tragedy, hinting only once or twice that her husband's neglect has got to her more deeply than her cheerful demeanour suggests. Kirsty Besterman is er... outstanding (this stuff is contagious) especially when her double D enhancements lend her the confidence she otherwise lacks.

The show is stolen by Ria Jones, channelling Julie Walters as Mrs Swabb, hoover at the ready but eyes wide open and ears flapping. She is our confidante, breaking a very fragile fourth wall whenever she likes, inviting us to wallow in conspiratorial giggling - and we do. She also throws into sharp relief one of the two main problems with the production, as she is the only character who is not a museum piece - the odd one out for being 21st century in her attitudes. The clichés and caricatures that grate with the grotesques around her somehow slide off her earthy observations and one-liners.

With Patrick Marber directing, the pace stays high throughout, but he never really gets us to like any of the flawed human beings who dash on and off stage for our pleasure. Long before the ill-matched couples resolve into pairings a little more suited to their personalities, I had stopped caring much about whether things work out or not for them.

Though I'd buy Mrs Swabb a milk stout in the bar and listen to her stories all night long.

Habeas Corpus is at the Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre until 26 February

Photo Manuel Harlan

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