The RSC’s The Constant Wife, sponsored by Cunard and starring Kara Tointon in the title role, first opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon before embarking on a national tour, concluding at Theatre Royal Bath; an apt venue due to the play bearing all the hallmarks of an 18th century marriage farce. This handsome production with sets and costumes by Anna Fleischle instantly transports you to the Coward-esque world of frothy twenties comedy, all with a thought-provoking message about the institution of marriage.
Although it bears the same name as W. Somerset Maughan’s 1926 play, this version of The Constant Wife is – aside from the fact that it remains set in London during 1927 with all the same characters – entirely Laura Wade’s, who has updated the original text to offer a more feminist angle, exploring infidelity and how society judges the betrayed wife more harshly than the deceiving husband; expecting women to dash off to the solicitor and commence divorce proceedings without so much as catching her breath, and regardless of whether or not she still loves her husband.
Kara Tointon shines as Constance Middleton, a glamorous lady of leisure who walks in on her surgeon husband, John (Tim Delap), in flagrante with her best friend, Marie-Louise (Gloria Onitiri) on the chaise of their apartment above his Harley Street consulting rooms. Yet instead of making a scene and tackling the pair’s betrayal there and then, Constance pretends to know and suspect nothing in the hope that John’s lapse will “run its course.” Already struggling with “empty nest” syndrome on taking her daughter to boarding school and feeling decidedly vulnerable, she doesn’t get angry, she gets even.
Coincidentally, Bernard Kersal (Alex Mugnaioni), the man whom Constance almost married, is back in London, having pursued a career in Japan selling silks, and is just the antidote to her feelings of insecurity which her husband’s affair has prompted. Kersal, who professed his eternal love for Constance and has never married, is on hand with just the devoted-puppy-type companionship she desires when John has evening ‘surgery’ and she wishes to go to the theatre.
There is an amusing debate between Martha (Amy Vicary-Smith) – who plays Constance’s proudly single sister – and their mother, Mrs Culver (Sara Crowe) when they both learn of John’s affair with Marie-Louise and argue about whether or not they have a duty to inform Constance. Martha insists that her sister is unhappy, something Mrs Culver dismisses with the brilliant retort, “She eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she is losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances,” but the tug of war between the pair represents society’s changing attitudes towards infidelity, with Sara Crowe delivering a strong performance as the most experienced of the women, who believes that men are genetically programmed to stray and should therefore be given dispensation to do so.
Martha and Mrs Culver are later floored when Constance reveals that she has been carrying on her own deception, and that her husband and his mistress were such poor liars that their clumsy attempt at secrecy became more irritating to her than the affair itself. Philip Rham is well cast as the secretly homosexual butler, Bentley, the only character aware of everything that is going on, and who takes regular afternoons off to visit his ‘mother’ and is fiercely loyal to Mrs Middleton in whom he confides about his sexuality. Rham also delights the audience with live piano recitals of works composed especially for the show by Jamie Cullum.
But it is Tointon who steals the show in her performance of a woman who, while her husband proceeds with his torrid affair, is inspired to become financially independent of him and, working with her sister, sets herself up as an interior designer who soon becomes the talk of the town with her exceptional taste for lampshades. But Constance is merely lying in wait for the perfect moment to turn the tables on her husband and enjoy her dish of revenge icy cold. Tointon remains riveting to watch throughout, with flawless comic timing and a magnetic stage presence that makes several of her fellow cast members look distinctly amateur.
Director Tamara Harvey has had many weeks to correct the fact that some of the actors seem to think that comedy disguises bad acting, while it is also extremely confusing for audiences when they are presented with a cast each pushing varying degrees of farce. Granted, some characters can be funnier or more theatrical than others, but it is a director’s job to ensure that the overall tone of a production should remain harmonious. Tointon is the glue holding this production together and, with one final trick up Constance’s sleeve as she packs her suitcase for a holiday in Italy without her husband, it would be impossible for anyone to leave the theatre without wearing a smile.
The Constant Wife at Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday 16th May. For more information and tickets please visit the website.
Production photos by Mihaela Bodlovic.
