"Compleat Female Stage Beauty" by Jeffrey Hatcher
Lace Market Theatre.

It is 1666, Edward Kynaston is the most celebrated actor on the English stage. His speciality: Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Desdemona. After King Charles II decides to allow women to play female roles in public, all hell breaks loose for Ned: he cannot compete with an actual woman, no matter how good his acting!

The final straw is when his loyal dresser, Maria, is suddenly starring in his beloved role and he, Edward, finds himself working in a bawdy tavern-house, struggling to survive. After losing his lover, his fame, and finally his pride, Ed must pull himself up by the bootstraps to adapt to this strange new world--and perhaps to find a himself little revenge on the side.

Let's first talk about the set, as this is the first thing that you see as you walk into the auditorium. Designed by Max Bromley, it has an air of sophistication and we open straight into "Othello", the play within the play. We have another set of curtains which acts as the stage within the stage curtains, so we have boundaries within the stage boundary.

Directed by Colin Treliving, he gives is these boundaries but then exceeds said boundaries by having the "audience" within the play within the area where we are. Loved the pace of this play and the bawdiness.

I also loved the way that the actors in the play within the play created a difference between the two roles. The Othello roles were on the hammy side but outside that play, and into "Beauty", the difference was apparent, again creating boundaries within the play. It must not be the easiest of roles for some of these actors to pretend to be hammy when they are not, a bit like when Les Dawson played the piano out of tune in purpose. It takes a good actor to play a ham.

Chris Conway plays Kynaston, and he makes you feel for him and his vanishing career, after all this is his Kynaston's ascended star which is now declining. Chris has a way of making you believe in Kynaston and making you see Kynaston the actor and not Chris Conway, the actor, and that is the sign of a talented character actor.

Thomas Betterton, Kynaston's manager and actor is played by Hugh Jenkins, another actor I can't remember seeing before but makes a big impression in this play.

Steve Mitchell plays Samuel Pepys, who also acts in part as the narrator for parts of the play, and this helps to move the play on nicely.

Christopher Collins plays Kynaston's secret lover, the Duke Of Buckingham, now you know why the romantic rendezvous is a secret one. This is the 1660s don't you know! The chemistry is such that the barbed comments between the two in public give everything away about their relationship to the audience but shrouded enough to the other characters to not reveal their secret. A fine line in the script that is perfectly played out between the pair.

Now with all of this gender swapping within the play, the main camp character is Sir Charles Sedley, who is as hetero as they come as he tries to engage the three "ladies" for some afternoon delight, and he is willing to pay, but gets a shock. Deliciously camp and played by Jonathan Cleaver with a wonderful accent and lisp.

Kynaston's dresser, Maria, is played with great loyalty by Dani Wain. You feel Maria's disappointment, as she really does love Kynaston, but their love looks never to be.

Charles II is played with great fun by Matthew Huntbach, and I love the line he has to deliver to Kynaston about male actors no longer able to play female roles, while dressed as a woman himself, oh the irony! Who'd have thought the Royal Family could be so much fun behind closed doors?

Charlie Osborne plays Kynaston's rival for the female version of Desdemona in Margaret Hughes. I love the development of this character and by the end you can see the journey that this actor has travelled from when we first see her. Charlie in contract with Hughes, is consistent throughout.

While there are all brilliant purveyors in the acting field, I must say that Jennifer White really stood out with her portrayal of Nell Gwynn. She reminded me of a young Barbara Windsor with all of that cheeky cockney charm. A little bit naughty but oh so nice! She even managed to steal the very end scene, as she did when she first walked on stage, but with a different scene stealing talent!!

Other named cast members were Tamzin Grayson-Gaunt (Lady Mersevale), Arwen Makin (Miss Frayne), Stephen Herring (Hyde), Freda Burke (Mistress Revels) and Jane Pyke and Sam Howitt.

The costumes for this play were wonderful, as you'd expect, as are the make up and wigs.

While there were no physical scene changes, the changes were done through props and lighting,with this design by Simon Carter and the sound by Matthew Allcock.

It's always a nice job visiting the Lace Market Theatre because I just know that the actors and everyone involved in the production have

everything nailed, and I know that I can just sit back and enjoy the production. This is no exception. It is funny, there's some choice language but so what, it reflects the characters and the era, and is one of those productions where there are no hams where there should not be a ham.

It was a shame that there were a few empty seats, but I am hoping that as the week goes on, this will not be the case because this is a play full of emotion, on many levels, presented really well by a brilliant cast.

I must also urge you to listen carefully to the script as, for anyone who loves the theatre as I do, you will find yourself agreeing with many of the theatrical observations that Hatcher has written within the words of this play.

"Compleat Female Stage Beauty" is at the Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 27 April.