She Stoops to Conquer

She Stoops to Conquer is a witty and hilarious play. If you have not seen it before, please don't let this version be your first time.

Mr. Hardcastle (Ian Redford) and Kate (Susannah Fielding) do great jobs. It's a shame I haven't seen them elsewhere. Unfortunately, they aren't able to carry the production themselves. The tone, pacing, casting and acting are all a bit off. Some of the performances are quite grating at times. Hastings seems as though he would have made a better Marlow. Marlow is not at all sympathetic. Mrs. Hardcastle delivers her lines in cringeworthy fashion. Constance started with a strong performance but later began to sound as though she were one of the Chippettes (imagine a rat drowning in a bathtub if all the air was replaced with helium). On the other hand, I watched some of her scenes at double speed so that may have had something to do with it.

Despite this being one of my favorite play, I had to watch this particular production over a three night period. It wasn't enjoyable enough to sit through and there are better things out there to see.

What a very odd production this is. When I watched the first few episodes, with it's cheap look, hammy acting and strange mid-scene episode breaks, I assumed that it had been made in the 70's or early 80's, and that the production date and website details at the end indicated that it had been updated in some way and was being used by it's production company to appear culturally aware. It was only on checking on IMDb that I realised that it was made recently. The sins of the past can be forgiven, or at least viewed with a modicum of condescending indulgence; the sins of today are less likely to be pardoned.

On a positive note, the script is witty enough even if the plot is implausible. The sung recapitulations of the plot at the beginning of the episodes are greatly welcome and must be considered this series' greatest success. The younger members of the cast look well enough. (I am really scraping the bottom of the barrel now.)

Unfortunately there is much to dislike here. The acting is mostly overdone (suitable for the theatre when you have to reach the back row, but not for the intimacy of home viewing) and often worse than that. The actor's asides are poorly managed, spoken so loudly and obviously that I marvel that the other characters don't respond. The camera work is flat, unimaginative and uninteresting. Perhaps this production would have been better filmed "live" in a theatre than on location.

Recommended only for those who wish to see a classic performed for their own educational benefit rather than pleasure.