LETTICE and LOVAGE
Peter Schaffer
Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, on Tuesday 28 February 2012
By the time that Schaffer wrote this play in 1987, he was a seasoned playwright. The cast is small – just four speaking parts, but the two main characters are female, which must be unusual. Lettice Douffet and Lotte Schoen dominate the whole piece and are played, magnificently, by Selina Cadell – a familiar face from television dramas – and Jessica Turner.
It is a gentle comedy for the most part, hilarious in places, with a number of surprises. The setting is initially in a dull panelled room of a minor country house called Fustian Hall. Lettice is the employed guide, who, getting bored with repeating the same set piece to groups of visitors (played in this production by unpaid volunteers), begins to embroider the story with exciting but untrue additions. Her employer eventually catches her out, and threatens her with dismissal.
The play develops, moving to Lotte Schoen’s office and then to Lettice’s basement flat, cunningly conjured up, using the theatre’s gallery as ground level. As Lettice and Lotte’s friendship grows, these two very different people reveal their backgrounds and their interests. Their costumes reflect their professions, one colourful and surprising for the actress and the other muted and sensible for the civil servant.
The final act brings an awkward but accidental dilemma into the story and involves a solicitor played by Michael Thomas. The play ends with a dramatic twist.
The Upton Village Theatre Group enjoyed a pre-performance supper (most enjoyable), seats at the front of the stalls and transport. It was an evening to remember, organised by Malcolm Wright and the Theatre Group Committee, whom we heartily thank.
B.Hopkins,
February 2012