While the Mainstage Season has been receiving attention at Riverside Studios, Flywheel’s fringe series of “5 Actors – 5 Plays – 5 Weeks” comes to a close with The Virtuous Burglar, the last production in their Rep: Radical Classical run of plays selected from the past 50 years.
Dario Fo’s classic farce, translated by Joe Farrell, delivers an evening of belly laughs as a series of misunderstandings and coincidences build up to offer the most ridiculous plot I’ve seen in years.
The core group of five actors is marvellous. Conor Dumbrell’s slightly dim Burglar and Rachel-Leah Hosker as his wife offer some sparkling comedy business starting on the phone. Jaomon Anthony Crosby and Cash Holland offer saucy fun, and Jessica Temple barely hidden hysteria.
They are joined in this performance by Jack Dugan (otherwise artistic director at the Old Red Lion), who offers a traditional, broad take on ‘outraged man’ and director Benedict Esdale, who makes a brief appearance at the end.
Esdale clearly understands farce. He sets The Virtuous Burglar across a stage dominated by a stylised grandfather clock, and allows for plenty of places to hide behind or make dramatic exits. The pacing across the 55-minute show is tight and focused.
Fo may have created a comedy of chaos, but there is nothing left to chance here. Even a leap that nearly lands in an audience member’s lap is choreographed to the inch. It’s just a very funny play in which every secret is hidden within another.
The Burglar may have expected a quick night’s work snatching the silverware, but this turns out to be anything but. By the time the night is over, he will have acquired much more than a bag of swag.
Flywheel has curated a fascinating series of plays over the past few weeks. I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to sample more than this one to see what this quintet could do with more dramatic material.
5 stars.
There are two more chances to see The Virtuous Burglar on 10 Oct. If you are in the area, get over to see an hour of pure fun from a talented team.
Photo credit: Miranda Mazzarella