Logos would
like to thank Jonathan
Ashley, Steve Knapper, Adam
& Simon Fovargue, Didi Chapman,
the Wandsworth
Arts team, the staff at
BAC, Bob and all at the Wilditch Community Centre
The
Stage
29th September 1999
Chris Borg
Logos has an enviable
reputation for brisk and refreshing productions and the company
provides another demonstration of why with a beautifully paced
production of Moliere's paranoia-
and deceit-laden comedy at Wimbledon Studio. Momentum
never flags as Kenneth
McClellan's superb new translation - fluent, funny and
lightly controlled - gives an excellent cast plenty of opportunities
to shine in the story's web of plotting and counter-plotting. No
one seizes them better than the demonic Nicholas
Gasson, who
gives central character Arnolphe an
air of increasing derangement and frenzy as he attempts to seal
arrangements for his marriage to Agnes (Lisa
May) whom he has kept in isolation and ignorance
in order to control her. But when he discovers that she
has fallen in love with nice but slightly dim passer-by Horace (Andrew
Fallaize), the paranoia begins in earnest and Gasson's
performance, packed with gestures of smooth triumph and some
Kenneth Williams-esque expressions
of horror when infallible plans go astray, keeps the comic momentum
bubbling. May and Fallaize also
shine as the couple whose initial trusting failure to see Arnolphe's
intent gives way to sudden realisation,
May giving Agnes'
final confrontation with Arnolphe genuine
dignity and grace. Other excellent contributions come from James
Callum, Jane Paul, Sean
Kemp and Stephen Matthews,
and the company's assurance shines through in the play's hectic
finale of crumbling schemes and just desserts. A striking,
richly coloured Paris courtyard set and stylish lighting (Kate
Firth, Kate Read and Dave
McCabe) complete a highly entertaining production.
Wandsworth Borough News
20th September 1999
When it comes to farce, and classic farce at that, there can
surely be no better company than Logos. I
have revelled in their productions both dramatic and comic in
the past and my early Christmas present this year has been the
joy to see them in Moliere's silly
farce about a cuckolded guardian, The
School for Wives, beautifully directed by Melissa
Holston... The play
unfolds with a good deal of style and some perfect performances. I
urge you to see the Arnolphe of Nicholas
Gasson. Confusion
and perplexion sit upon his brow along with the importance of
his situation, to great comic effect. Andrew
Fallaize gives
a dashing performance as the honest, handsome suitor Horace,
and Lisa May makes a delightful and
intelligent Agnes, more wise
and beautiful than is good for her. The two servants, Georgette and Alain,
are in the good hands of Jane
Paul and James Callum,
and Sean Kemp closes the proceedings
with a memorable epilogue. For
the Wimbledon Studio there is also
a fairytale setting, designed by the two
Kates, Frith and Read (both,
incidentally, from Wimbledon
School of Art). The translation and adaptation,
by Kenneth
McClellan, founder of the company, is in rhyming couplets
so audacious they make the audience shout with laughter out of
surprise at their sudden cheekiness. In short, the evening
is not to be missed. I found it delightful, professional
and entirely satisfactory. But I have been spoiled by
this company and now come to expect that, still, I always get
that little bit extra.
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