Theatre / emma fielding
Review: The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary!
Gustave Flaubert’s bleak tale of a woman’s loneliness, frustration, adultery, debt, depression and ultimate suicide is not an obvious choice for a comic theatre company. Bristol’s Peepolykus do silly, they do clowning, they do ridiculous – so how do they do tragedy?
The answer is: very humorously. Yet within the comic performance, the sadness of the tale is retained. You will definitely laugh, but you may cry too (albeit only briefly).
This is a deconstructed Madame Bovary, in which the actors repeatedly step out of character to discuss the process and the narrative with one another and with the audience. This device enables the actors – particularly Emma Fielding as the eponymous Madame – to deliver thoughts and ideas about what Emma Bovary might be experiencing – thoughts and ideas that Flaubert’s more observational (and more masculine) novel omits. The lacing with 21st-century psychology lends a new level of depth to 19th-century literature.
But don’t think that this production is in any way serious. The performances are oddly reminiscent of a Morecambe & Wise sketch: mannered, perfectly timed and with fantastic comic engineering. Clowning is a precision art, and this production is permeated with that precision, allowing the audience to both enjoy the apparent chaos and admire the careful thought with which it has been created. This is Madame Bovary told in a street-theatre style by consummate professionals.
As the classical actor on the stage, Fielding provides a firm basis around which the other performers can spin their slapstick. Peepolykus’ artistic directors Javier Marzan and John Nicholson switch roles with careless nonchalance, although their versatility is somewhat put in the shade by Jonathan Holmes who is credited as playing “everything else” – namely, 18 roles ranging from the pharmacist’s apprentice to Emma’s mother-in-law. The staging is simple yet richly imaginative.
This is not a production for purists. There are undoubtedly versions of Madame Bovary that are more ‘true’ to the novel. But Peepolykus blend the manic energy of street performance, the pleasure of finely crafted sketch comedy and the Brechtian trick of smashing the fourth wall and engaging directly with the audience into an evening that delivers the full richness of the novel whilst utilising the unique characteristics of live theatre. The end result is an excellent night out.
The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! continues at Bristol Old Vic until Saturday, May 7. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/madamebovary.html
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