Review: A perfect dose of perfect nonsense

Sometimes when you read a book your brain knows exactly what the characters must look like. When a film or theatre adaptation gets it wrong it’s too exasperating to watch.

Not this time: local actors Graham Hopkins and Jonathan Roxmouth are unmistakably perfect for the roles of Jeeves and Wooster, the charming and effervescent pair created by author P.G. Wodehouse.

Hopkins is the quintessentially superior yet subservient valet, while Roxmouth doesn’t even need to open his mouth to capture the part of the foppish English gentleman. When he does it’s a delight, with his plummy upper-class twitfulness making him the idiot that everybody warms to.

Novelist P.G. Wodehouse first introduced the characters in 1916 and this play, Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, has been distilled from his works by brothers Robert and David Goodale. Set in the 1930s, it presents a world of innocence whose inhabitants are cocooned by a thick, protective layer of money.

It’s a lovely period piece, with the costumes and the elegant language in frightfully clipped accents all spot on.

The script is as ludicrous as its characters, with Wooster trying to narrate one of his escapades by turning it into a play supported by Jeeves and another gentlemen’s valet, Seppings (Robert Fridjhon).

Fridjhon is in danger of becoming the actor that no self-respecting farce or comedy is complete without. Here he gets a chance to romp around in several guises, proving quick-witted and versatile.

The action occurs in the country house of Totleigh Towers, with Wooster trying to patch up the faltering romance of a friend to avoid the awfulness of having to marry the woman himself as her designated second choice.

Meanwhile he is also being blackmailed into stealing a silver ornament for his batty aunt without being caught by the ever-increasing long arms of the law. The script is laced with laugh-out-loud gems, intelligent, sophisticated wit and physical antics that hold the whole lot together.

There are some gloriously funny touches in the scenery and the staging. In a normal play you might think the sets are cheap, but here they are all supposedly rustled up in a jiffy by the unflappable Jeeves, ever at hand to make sure his clueless gentleman doesn’t make too much of a buffoon of himself. Designer Greg King has conjured up a brilliant set with oodles of ingenuity built in to enhance the experience.

Some of the funniest moments come from Roxmouth’s expressions when he appears as enchanted as the audience by the antics going on around him. “Jeeves, the scenery is moving again,” he declares, as the lounge whizzes off and a bedroom appears.

The costumes by Neil Stuart-Harris are as flexible as the actors, with Hopkins wearing the most inventive of them as he holds conversations with himself.

The excellent cast interacts beautifully and with fabulous timing, making the show directed by Steven Stead as classy as its characters.

It’s spiffingly silly and absolutely perfect nonsense. DM

Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense runs at Montecasino until 11 January, then moves to Durban from 4 February.

Photos by Jesse Kramer

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