The play tells the story of an ageing Classics teacher, forced into early retirement from his post at a public school, based on Harrow, in the late nineteen-forties. Unavoidably, actors had to contend with the difficulties of playing much older characters — a task that lead actor Alex Blakes (as Andrew Crocker-Harris) coped with well, but others actors, such as Ollie Forrest as the school headmaster, struggled with. The difference was palpable in the ease with which Edward Richards played schoolboy John Taplow — a little more work on the physicality of the performances elsewhere would have aided the production immeasurably.
Such awkwardness was not helped by occasionally clumsy blocking, ranging from the slightly incongruous — the movement of actors, for instance, around an (admittedly obstructive) table was somewhat counterintuitive – to the frankly frustrating – actors faces, for instance Tom Bailey’s, being obscured for much of some scenes. There was just a feeling that with a little tweaking the production could have been much better.
What held it together was the talent of the three lead actors. Blakes’ stellar performance was ably supported by Ellie Page, as Crocker-Harris’ adulterous wife Millie, and Aleks Cvetkovic, as her lover Frank Hunter. Page brought a much-needed energy to the production — her quick movements stood in contrast to her husband’s steady pace and her dominance over the two men in her domestic space was clear, linking her to the sinister presence of Clytemnestra in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, which provides a backdrop to the play (the Browning version of the title is a featured translation). Cvetkovic was also strong. With a running time of only an hour, the changes in Hunter’s attitude to Crocker-Harris could have been a little sudden, but he dealt well with the emotional turning points.
Overall, The Browning Version is play without gimmicks which relies on doing the simple well for its success and this was achieved, at times brilliantly, by the central characters. However, weaker members of the supporting cast and the flaws mentioned above, sadly, hamper enjoyment and leave it all a little unsatisfying.
3 STARS
