Monday, 5 November 2007

The Country Wife - TNT

David Haig gets hilariously apoplectic as a jealous older husband in Jonathan Kent's sprightly revival of William Wycherley's 1675 restoration romp. He's so worried that his new country bumpkin wife will make a cuckold of him that he keeps her under lock and key to prevent her from experiencing the "sophisticated" ways and louche morals of London town. Meanwhile ( in order to gain unlimited access to frustrated city wives, without arousing the suspicions of their wary spouses) dedicated lothario Hunter (a dashing Toby Stephens) puts it about that his stay in France has rendered him impotent. Played completely for laughs on a garish set, there's little sense of the darkness at the heart of a society in which reputation is everything. But the sexual innuendo which fuels every verbal exchange keeps the comedy buoyant, and the idiosyncratic mix of period and contemporary costume suggests that, when it comes to illicit liaisons, not much has changed over the centuries.
Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, SW1 (0844-844 2353) Until January 12. Tickets £47.50 - £20

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