Rather Nifty’s, well, ‘rather nifty’ adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is anything but serious, presenting a version of the novel with three actors, quick costume changes and a fair sprinking of bad jokes.
Sailing into the Tabard at Turnham Green following a run at Brighton’s Open Air Theatre, this tale of adventure, deception and revenge manages to cover a large chunk of the plot while being very, very, silly.
Adapted by Adam Elliott and Oliver Malam, aided and abetted by Tom Telford and Evie James in the cast with Malam, The Count of Monte Cristo has letters, duels, fish, spoons, and lemonade in scenes that Dumas could only imagine.
As simple sailor Edmond Dantès prepares to woo and wed the girl of his dreams, he finds himself pulled into a Napoleonic plot that leaves him languishing in a dungeon for six long years.
His friends betray him. Those in power abuse him. The costume department degrade him with a stick-in beard and silly wigs.
Throughout all this, he remains set on his ‘rev-aunge’ against those who crossed him. and returning as the mysterious Count, he is determined to see justice done.
Within the Tabard’s black box, the few props and set pieces (Adam and Philip Elliott designed the scale model of France that hides some of the back and forth) come alive due to the inventive development and direction of the piece, although I suspect it would have been funnier, sharper, and faster in the open air, with entrances and exits less confined to the traditional route.
The first half sees Dantès wronged and set to find his freedom, schooled in literacy, numeracy, and the art of fighting by a fellow prisoner and Abbé.
Those who have crossed him fail to recognise him despite the lack of any real disguise (and the fact he hasn’t changed in years – it takes a further sixteen to plot, for reasons so proposterous you have to see for yourself).
With a curiously durable goldfish, a few disappearing items, and villains built for comedy (Telford and James in quick-switch roles), this Count is always entertaining.
By the second half (which is longer than the first, always an issue for audiences) we are fully into revenge mode, with the next generation of Dantès’s enemies adding a further sheen of the ridiculous.
We’ve already seen tiny figures adding fuel to a duel; now we have young Albert Mondego, obsessed with finding a new best friend, and Valentine de Villefort, a winsome maiden trapped in an evil family.
To say this Count is ridiculous is paying it the highest of compliments. All three actors have the charm, energy, and skill to capture the mood of this adaptation, which must be absolute chaos backstage. It just feels a little too confined in the space it’s in, and sometimes loses a little bit of momentum in the pacing.
It’s fresh and clever, with lots of ideas. Whether the line flubs and misbehaving props are intended or not, they seem to belong in such anarchy.
Where the production falls down a bit is in capturing such a complex story and more than 25 characters in a way that both amuses and makes some sort of sense. But as confusing as it might be, it is beautifully loony.
3 stars for 3 stars!
The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Adam Elliott, continues at Theatre at the Tabard until 22 Feb with tickets available here.
Image credit: Jasmine Earl