Classic story is Milton’s paradise found

REVIEW: Sense and Sensibility – Worcester Repertory Company, Commandery Gardens, Worcester (Thursday, July 10 to Sunday, July 20).

Showtime! stars rating: *  *  *  *  *

DIRECTOR and scriptwriter Paul Milton gleefully drives a Regency coach and horses through this Jane Austen mass attack of the vapours… and egad sir, ‘tis all the better for it.

I’ll be dashed Milton, you’ve realised that these Dashwood gels can’t have enough of these dashing young blades, but that doesn’t mean the whole thing has to be as stiff as one of the author’s whalebone corsets.

Indeed sirrah, you’ve loosened those literary stays and given this corking tale of romantic entanglements a good old riding boot up the bustle.

Translation: Paul Milton has taken Jane Austen’s story and more than made it deliciously palatable for a modern audience.

So… meet the girls. Elinor (Julia Bentley) and Marianne (Charlotte Swarbrick) have relocated from Sussex to rural Worcestershire, a move that Milton periodically milks by incorporating local place names into the dialogue. With comic intent, of course.

This is a good tactic – think Swan Theatre pantos - although I’m not exactly sure why there’s a Mexican wave of controlled laughter from the capacity audience when the word ‘Droitwich’ is uttered.

Anyway, it’s clear that Elinor is the stable one, whereas Marianne is constantly dissolving into floods of tears as the aforesaid entanglements turn into spider’s webs from which there is clearly no escape for the entrapped.

There’s some really high-octane acting here, and it’s impossible not to be drawn into the politics of courtship that appeared to be the norm among the gentry of Jane Austen’s time.

Meanwhile, the male eye candy is supplied in overflowing goblets of finest Malmsey Madeira by the hopelessly handsome Edward (Nate Harter) and Sir John Middleton (Murray Andrews) who also speedily morphs into Colonel Brandon before you can say ‘King George III is as mad as a biscuit.’

The two men also assume the role of animals. Yes, really. Both excel at being horses, the sound effects being so convincing that at first, I thought the ‘neighs’ had been pre-recorded.

And there’s more, too. Not content with his foray into the equine sphere, Harter also strays into the canine world, with dog impressions so authentic that I started rummaging in my picnic box for a spare bone to throw at him.

I reckon that if ever Hollywood wants to do a remake of Lassie or Champion the Wonder Horse, then ‘Barking’ Harter’s their man.

However, the Mrs Bennet Memorial Prize must surely go to Nadia Shash’s take on Lucy and Mrs Jennings, the latter’s stentorian and shrill words in the girls’ shell-likes more than guiding them through the minefields of the heart.

A mixture of Thatcher-esque battleaxe, Mother Theresa and Widow Twankey all rolled into one, she was a steady hand on the tiller as the ship of love sailed through those ocean squalls of rampant hormones.

Paul Milton’s fearless adaptation of this literary classic is endlessly entertaining and I enjoyed every single second. And you will, too. By Jove you will!