'London Assurance' at the National Theatre

This evening Chris treated me to a viewing of 'London Assurance' at the National Theatre. It sounds a bit like a play about an insurance firm but that's not it at all. The play by Dion Boucicault first opened in 1841 but it still has a lot to say to us today, particularly about actively taking the piss out of pretentious people.

It portrays a few days in the life of the extended family of Sir Harcourt Courtly, a rather portly 57 year old gentleman who considers himself to be the height of fashion, despite being reliant on marrying the 18 year old daughter of his former neighbour to pay his debts. His son is a bit of a rake but whom he believes is pure and virtuous. The play moves from London to the country seat of Sir Harcourt's friend and guardian of his future wife where the action really starts, since the son and his friend are also invited to the country house where we meet Lady Gay Spanker and things start to get interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the play and the performances with a drop of foppishness here and a bit of feminism there, the obvious jokes about the Spankers and, of course, the almost perpetual ridicule of poor Sir Harcourt the over-age fop and dandy played to a T by Simon Russell Beale. Fiona Shaw was Lady Gay Spanker, Mark Addy was the squire and the ever-delightful Richard Briers was Mr Adolphus Spanker (Dolly Spanker). I also liked the youngsters in the cast, Michelle Terry as the knowing 18 year old and Paul Ready as Sir Harcourts son (both of whom have been in National Theatre productions in the last year or two). I'd also single out Nick Sampson as the rather too-knowing valet spinning tales to keep his masters happy.

I liked the set which was mainly the revolving inside and outside of the country house of the country squire. The costumes were great, with the aging dandy of Sir Harcourt having more costume changes than the women, allowing Simon Russell Beale to fully explore the character and give us lots of laughs. He was great fun. The whole production was fun, nicely timed and nicely presented. I liked the rat!

There was an odd age thing going on in the audience - we were definitely in the lower third of the age range, maybe even the lower quarter. Was it just a Tuesday night thing, or is there something 'old' about the demographics of the audience for this type of play? Go on, buck the trend and go and see it irrespective of your age - it's well worth it.