The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - Chichester Festival (Review)
Review by David Munro
THE Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell’s inspiring early 20th Century novel, is about a group of painters and decorators and is a scathing analysis of the relationship between working-class people and their employers.
The “philanthropists” of the title are the workers who acquiesce in their own exploitation.
In this adaptation by Howard Brenton, the focus is the house, originally decorated by the protagonists of the novel and which, in the present day, is a mouldy semi-ruin being purchased by a young “yuppie” couple.
The main emphasis of the play deals with the men’s daily working lives while they work on the house for the corrupt local businessman and town Mayor, Mr Sweater, in the 19th Century.
The stage is dominated by Simon Higlett’s cutaway, two storey house which, during the course of the evening, is transformed from a mouldy semi-ruin to an opulent 19th Century interior.
The action of the play is episodic; short dialogue scenes and moments of action which are only held together by the theme of the men’s work on the house and their fight for survival.
The cast duplicate the workers and the corrupt employers/councillors who are busy setting up nefarious get rich quick schemes and ignore the destitution and hard working conditions of the workers.
Today, this is an all too familiar situation and one imagines that is the reason for the production of such a disjointed and dogmatic play, which relies solely for interest on the performances of the very skilful cast and which manages to marginalize the basic theme of the book, the rise of Socialism and the trade union movement.
The cast, as I have indicated, is exemplary and it is invidious to single out any particular member. However, I feel that mention should be made of Finbar Lynch as Frank Owen, who successfully stands up to the bosses over maltreatment of an apprentice, and Larry Dann as Old Joe Philpott – the apotheosis of the old school workman who has seen it all and learned to ride the punches.
I feel this play (which with a lesser cast would not be worth seeing, as it is the hackneyed old warhorse of “them and us”) trundles rheumatically across the stage supported by its cast and little else other than perhaps the usual first rate production values one has come to expect from Chichester.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Howard Brenton, based on the novel by Robert Tressell.
Director – Christopher Morahan
Designer – Simon Higlett
Lighting – James Whiteside
Sound – Tom Lishman
Composer – Ilona Sekacz.
CAST: Dean Ashton; Will Beer; Louise Bush; Larry Dann; Tim Frances; Finbar Lynch; Des McAleer; Thomas Morrison; Laura Rees; Paul Regan; Gyuri Sarossy; Nicolas Tennant.
Minerva Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6AP.
From July 15 – August 26, 2010.
Evenings 7.45pm/Mat. Weds & Sat. 2.15pm
Box Office: 01234 781312