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Martin Guerre

Published Thursday 19 July 2007 at 12:10 by Julie Watterston

It is hard not to use superlatives when the Watermill Theatre has once again exceeded all expectations. Revisions from the original script to allow the play to fit within the Watermill’s unique performance space are superbly crafted. Craig Revel Horwood directs and choreographs this adaptation as if his life depended on it and musical arrangements by Sarah Travis create a dynamic which works in partnership with Horwood’s creativity. The show is full of passion, emotive contrasts and high energy, all of which are carried buoyantly along by the remarkable talents of the actor/musician cast. Andrew Bevis is the ideal Martin Guerre suffocated in his naivety by his forced marriage to Bertrande de Rols, a role sensitively portrayed by Kelly O’Leary with Ben Goddard giving an impassioned performance as imposter Arnaud du Thil. Karen Mann, Rosie Timpson, Susannah Van Den Berg and Esther Biddle have great cameo roles as the womenfolk of Artigat with Jez Unwin as the sinister Guillaume and James Traherne as the determined Pierre Guerre. Johnson Willis is a sympathetic delight as Benoit with Michael Howcroft as Father Dominic and Kit Orton as Andre. The production, as is often the case at the Watermill, is all the more impressive because of the restrictions of the space in which it is performed and Diego Pitarch’s set design and Richard G Jones’ lighting play an equal role in contributing to the bigger picture.

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