Review: THE MASSIVE TRAGEDY OF MADAME BOVARY!, Jermyn Street Theatre

We love obscene, immoral classic novels. The glamourisation of adultery and the glorification of debauchery are picture-perfect causes for controversy: they lead people astray, especially women.

When Gustave Flaubert published his Madame Bovary in 1856, his French detractors revolted. His life-size depictions of society were offensive, scandalous, but, after a lengthy trial, the court didn't find a reason to condemn the writer or ban the book. The whole debacle only expanded Flaubert's readership.

So, readers gorged on Emma Bovary's affairs as she lives beyond her means, racking up a silly amount of debt before killing herself (after all, Flaubert had to punish her somehow). Her attempts at escaping her bucolic tedium fascinated the public, her tragedy was titillating. But a slightly different tale is being told at Jermyn Street Theatre. Madame Bovary becomes The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary!. It's quick, it's clever, and it's totally bonkers.

Two charlatan rat-catchers arrive at Yonville to rid the idyllic village of its endemic pest issues. They meet Emma Bovary, a self-hating, exasperated woman who's after the arsenic they just bought. As one of them bonds with her over their romantic ideas of faraway places, she reluctantly tells him her life story, celebrating her past and mourning her future. John Nicholson writes a deliciously entertaining adaptation of the novel, while Marieke Audsley has it jump off the pages of a storybook.

Four actors hustle a ridiculous number of characters in a feat of multi-casting foolery. They draw on blackboards to instigate stage directions and sprint from door to door to enter in another role, spinning Emma's descent into disgrace and shame with bleak humour and blasé comedy. But it's not all just fun and games. Nicholson's stage translation is faithful to the original version, honouring its protagonist as effectively as it does its ultimate moral and (surprisingly relevant) social critique. While it's a comedy, there's tragedy's a-plenty and Jennifer Kirby's performance is a stunning triumph of range and tone.

She is precise in her humour and heartbreaking in her suffering, matched with clockwork empathy for the full spectrum by the rest of the cast. Alistair Cope is especially scene-stealing with his collection of kooky personas; from meek servant to impatient priest and from Charles Bovary's overbearing mother to Rouen Cathedral's lifeless keeper, he is a joy to watch. They're joined by Sam Alexander as the loving, boring, unsexy doctor Bovary and Dennis Herdman as her lovers. They're also the two "vermin termination executives" that kick-start the action.

Amy Watts' set design is a versatile backdrop for all the traffic. It looks straight out of an old-school, picturesque animated film or a children's book. Linework frames its elements and tiny doors hide props (that are often handed by randomly appearing arms for the benefit of laughter). The performers rely on physical comedy to deliver much of the fun, but Matt Eaton's sound design has a crucial role in the tonal changes of the show. Slapstick musical noises are punctuated by a loud, almost vibrating pitch that haunts Emma. It's skilful in its unsubtlety.

Emma's romanticisations of her future husband as a way out of her dread are a cause for laughs, but we shouldn't ignore the meticulous criticism of the belittling role assigned to 19th Century women that's still rampant in some circles today. Nicholson handles the two sides of the original novel exceptionally well, keeping the plot on a thought-provoking page even when comedy takes over.

Just like our heroine, we're in dire need of a distraction these days, so a tragedy that doesn't take itself too seriously is just what the doctor ordered for this festive season.

The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! runs at Jermyn Street Theatre until 17 December.

Photo credit: Steve Gregson

To post a comment, you must register and login.