Brandon Thomas, an actor who turned to writing plays in the 1880s, is known today for just one of his works: this vivacious Victorian farce, a three-act romp that combines moments of wild silliness with a striking picture of the corrupting effects of greed.
Oxford students Jack Chesney and Charley Wykeham prevail on their friend Fancourt Babberley to help their romantic plans. He does this by posing as Charley’s aunt, a rich widow from Brazil (“where the nuts come from”).
The rest of the plot is best left undescribed but it’s intricate and comic. Many of the laughs are thanks to Mathew Horne’s full-throttle performance as the panicky Fancourt. Tricked into pretending to be a mature woman, he skips about in a dress, writhing and simpering. He is meant to be unconvincing, and revels in this, but recoils sharply from the attentions of middle-aged lawyer Stephen Spettigue (Norman Pace).
Around him there’s bright work, especially from Dominic Tighe as Jack, while enjoyable support comes from Steven Pacey and Jane Asher, whose amorous entanglement is a grown-up version of the younger characters’ fragile intrigue.
Ian Talbot’s production is orthodox, yet none the worse for being so. Paul Farnsworth’s design is certainly the most lavish I have seen at this Southwark venue. It looks very much as if it has been created with a West End transfer in mind.
The decision to have two intervals makes this a longer evening than is strictly necessary, and the writing can feel heavy-handed. But although daft beyond belief, Charley’s Aunt is indestructibly funny.
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