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BBC Radio 7, 18 October 2009
This Restoration romp owes much of its humour to the distinction between
town and country. Set in Lichfield, it describes the conflict of values between the genial innkeeper Boniface (David King)
and his family, and the well-to-do London aristocrats Archer (Dale Rapley) and Aimwell (Simon Treves). Perhaps inevitably
Farquhar takes the rakes' sides - for all their trickery, they possess both integrity and intelligence, rendering them ideal
marriage partners. Boniface is a prisoner of his ignorance, a country bumpkin doomed to serve others. The two ingenues Cherry
(Sue Broomfield) and Dorinda (Tara Dominic) are caught between two value-systems; they come from humble backgrounds, but aspire
to enter the aristocracy. Being clever women, they are able to manipulate the men (both Boniface and the aristocrats) to achieve
their aims.
Glyn Dearman's entertaining revival focused on the issue of language, which in the
protagonists' hands functioned as a means of obfuscation rather than communication. As is customary in Restoration comedy,
there was a considerable amount of role-playing: Archer became a servant, Lady Bountiful (Margaret Courtenay) became
a quack doctor, while Froignard (John Moffatt) essayed a ludicrous French accent in a futile attempt to concile his Irish
origins. No one - least of all the two rakes - had sufficient presence of mind to tell the truth about themselves, until the
entrance of Sir Charles Freeman (Donald Gee), a deus ex machina figure with prior acquaintance of Archer and
Aimwell. Although the play's manipulation of language is entertaining, it simultaneously shows how the characters
are reluctant to commit themselves in a fiercely competitive world dedicated to the survival of the fittest. Everyone tries
to prove themselves intellectually, even if it means embracing falsehood rather than truth.
The same rule also applied to the characters' conception of identity. Derman showed
how the protagonists shifted roles at will: Scrub (Geoffrey Whitehead) played at least seven different parts, depending on
the requirements of the situation. While this was something to be admired - particularly in a comedy like The
Beaux' Strategem, whose plot seems inordinately complicated - it nonetheless revealed a certain instability on the
characters' part; no one (least of all the listeners) knew who they 'really' were. Perhaps they are just protean figures, indulging
in trickery for its own sake, so as to emerge triumphant over their rivals.
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