Robert Tanitch reviews Nell Gwyn at Apollo Theatre, London W1
I saw Jessica Swale’s comedy last year at Shakespeare’s Globe, the perfect theatre for this bawdy Restoration romp.
Christopher Luscombe’s lively and through enjoyable production, with its fine set by Hugh Durrant, has now transferred to the West End and the comedy and the audience interaction work a treat at the Apollo Theatre.
King Charles II loved theatre and one of the first things he did on his return from exile in 1660 was to re-open the theatres which the Puritans had closed on 6 September 1642.
Charles had seen actresses on the French stage and he wanted to see them on the English stage. Nell Gwynn was one of the most famous. She appeared in plays by John Dryden.
Inveterate theatregoer Samuel Pepys was a fan. Court painter Sir Peter Lely painted her in the nude.
Playwright Aphra Behn said of Nell Gwynn that “it was if she had been made on purpose to put the whole world into good humour.”
Gemma Arterton does exactly that. She has all the requisites for the role: pert beauty, verbal wit and a strong feminist streak.
Arterton is adorable and I particularly enjoyed the witty sexual sparring and with the king (David Sturzaker) and her leading actor, James Hart (Jay Taylor).
Jessica Swale has directed comedies from this period and she recreates the innuendo very successfully without resort to pastiche. It helps that Sturzaker and Taylor, who have style, wit and bags of charm, are effortlessly in period.
King Charles II is not the only one who loved theatre. It is quite obvious at the Apollo Theatre that Swale, Luscombe, Arterton, the whole cast and the audience all love theatre too.
