Review: BEING MR WICKHAM, Chichester Festival Theatre
Photo credit: James Findlay
It was the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen on 16 December 1775 and the enduring appeal of her novels, especially to a female audience, has kept her stories centre stage and her characters lives fresh in our minds. Pride and Prejudice (sort of), a lively re-interpretation of her most famous novel, was touring in 2019 as Covid closed our theatres and Being Mr Wickham was captured live at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds in 2021, imagining the life after the book of one of its most notorious characters. In the anniversary year of the author’s birth, Death Comes to Pemberley toured the UK in a story set six years after the book in which Wickham was accused of the murder of Captain Denny on the estate of Darcy’s Pemberley house. Its testament to her writing that these characters still resonate and appeal to a 21st century audiences. It was a delight to revisit Being Mr Wickham at the wonderfully intimate Minerva Theatre in Chichester and come face to face with Wickham as he reflected on his life at 60, locked out of his bedroom by Lydia.
Adrian Lukis has written and stars in this charmingly clever piece, carefully weaving a back story for key characters from Jane Austen’s novel with historical references to the Duke of Wellington, the Battle of Waterloo, Lord Byron and early 19th century courtesan Harriet Wilson, with scenes from the original book. He invites his audience who he addresses directly from the stage to make their mind up about his life. His questionable behaviours and attitudes cast him as the baddie in the classic story and viewed through the 21st Century lens, his going “fishing” for young ladies or “having a crack” at her would certainly attract critics, but can we feel sympathy for him or excuse his actions?
When he describes life in Dr Hitchin’s Academy for Young Gentlemen on Dartmoor with vicious masters brutalising their students or the horror of seeing a fellow soldier hit in the throat by a musket ball, and the smell of sulphur, blood and flesh at the Battle of Waterloo, it is a chilling reminder of the unpleasantness of life for those outside high society of the time. His evocative storytelling draws you in. Equally, his lively recollections with sparkling eyes about his time as a youth drinking Old Mr Darcy’s brandy, or later visiting the ballrooms, whore houses and gambling dens of London are full of amusing details that reveal his love of living life to the full.
Staged simply in a room overlooking the road outside with some period furniture, an array of rugs and a glass of port in hand and directed by Guy Unsworth, Lukis draws you in with a glisten in the eye, a wry smile or a raised eyebrow. Wickham is in a reflective mood looking back on his life and the people who he met and putting a gentle spin on his behaviours. He presents a good defence of the life of George Wickham but also his message that there is one truth in life and that is to “survive” feels both poignant and relevant, especially having lived through Covid and its aftermath.
Jane Austin fans will recognise the storylines from his life at Pemberley, his relationship with Georgina Darcy, Elizabeth and Lydia Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy, which show the well-researched basis of the play and may be interested to learn from Wickham what has happened to them all since the period of the book. But even those less familiar with the story will enjoy the storytelling and Lukis’ excellent delivery, and will surely be charmed by his fading good looks and wickedly engaging smile. Sat in the front row, we were!
Look out for future tour dates or re-releases of the digital capture on Original Theatre’s website to spend a very pleasant hour in Mr Wickham’s company.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne