'Candida' review

OUR VERDICT

Candida, currently playing at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, is a comedy set in the suburbs of North London. Candida is the wife of the Reverend James Morell, a famous clergyman.

However, on a return trip from London Candida is accompanied by the young poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who wants to rescue her from what he presumes to be her dreary domesticity.  Ultimately, Candida must choose between the two men.

It was certainly a matter of leaving the best to last in this latest production of George Bernard Shaw’s famous, or infamous, play.

The third act was outstanding with Candida played brilliantly by Claire Lams metamorphosing from the somewhat saccharine Reverend’s wife to the feisty and extraordinarily contemporary strong woman choosing between her virtuous husband and the rather over-excitable Mr Marchbanks, a debut professional performance by Joseph Potter. 

It was a tough role for Potter to play in 2019 when hysteria at this level is not the norm but his performance in the third act was by far his saving grace.

It couldn’t go without comment that Ibsen’s The Dolls House, written in 1879 had a massive influence on George Bernard Shaw who wrote Candida a decade later. Both were concerned with women’s rights and there are many connections to be drawn.

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The script was so contemporary it is easy to see why in 1904 Candidamania swept the USA - the script was so shocking.

Even in Richmond in 2019 Candida’s line “What is your bid’ to her two desperate suitors evoked a spontaneous “You go girl!” from a member of the audience.

The tension created by Lams’ control of the situation in the third act was palpable and electric.

Shaw’s obsession with truth permeates Candida, even through the choice of name. This theme provided plenty of comedic conversation between the pious Rev James Morrell played confidently by Martin Hutson and the talented Michael Simkins as Mr Burgess, Candida’s scheming father.

The funniest lines were beautifully timed deliveries between the excellent Sarah Middleton playing Miss Proserpine Garnett and Simkins, Mr Burgess, who had by far some of the best content but delivered it superbly.

If you think a Shaw turn of the century play isn’t for you, I would think again… it could have been written yesterday and I would say “You go girl”… or boy!

On now until Jan 4 at The Dominion Theatre, 268-269 Tottenham Court Rd, W1T 7AQ whitechristmasthemusical.co.uk