Simon Godwin’s revival of George Farquhar’s 1707 comedy appears at first to lack a sense of identity. At least, so it seems until the crucial change of gear in the final act. When the young beau Aimwell, having won the heart of Dorinda through a series of deceptions, suddenly finds himself unwilling to marry her under false pretences, the play’s dénouement becomes increasingly unpredictable. The parallel stratagem of Aimwell’s comrade Archer towards Mrs Sullen sloughs off its amiable trickery; Sullen and his wife agree, with a kind of unanimous hostility, to divorce, but then Sullen refuses to return his wife’s dowry and pretty much all the gentry in the Lichfield area attempt to straighten out matters. It is like watching English comedy itself move from Restoration mode into a new age, and Godwin and his cast work it beautifully

This is, I suspect, due to a factor hidden away in the programme credits: “Dramaturgy – Simon Godwin and Patrick Marber”. Marber’s combination of overt and dry humour, and his refusal to stop being serious even during his comedy, pay off excellently here and, in retrospect, have been used through the previous two hours to prepare the ground. (His own new play The Red Lion opens in the NT’s Dorfman in a couple of weeks.)

Thus discreetly reshaped, the play feels more quintessentially English (although Farquhar was in fact from Londonderry). Michael Bruce’s score has that folky musculature that John Tams of the Albion Band has provided for so many past NT productions (not least War Horse)… and also facilitates an implausible moment when Geoffrey Streatfeild as Archer somehow combines an Astairesque cane routine with a Riverdancey reel. Samuel Barnett is perfectly cast as Aimwell, too sincere to be deceitful, and Susannah Fielding as Dorinda skilfully juggles her assorted marital dolours and extra-marital delights. As for the peculiar sepulchral camp of Pearce Quigley, he is simply the best comic servant currently on any stage. And, considering this together with other current NT productions Light Shining In Buckinghamshire and Everyman, it feels as if artistic director Rufus Norris is immediately and deeply examining what both our nation and its theatre mean.
  
Written for the Financial Times.