Review: Nell Gwynn at Theatre by the Lake

“…a joyous celebration of a bold woman well ahead of her time…”

Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale, Theatre by the Lake

By Ken Powell

Nell Gwynn is a peculiarly fascinating character in British history. Former whore-turned-orange seller, she turned to acting and became the darling of the London stage before eventually becoming the lover of Charles II. This is all well known if you know your Restoration period history. What Jessica Swale has managed to do is turn this two-dimensional figure into a real person with whom we can laugh and celebrate an extraordinary life.

Swale’s writing is superb; there’s no denying it. She is able to make history immensely entertaining, while also catching the seriousness of Gwynn’s dangerous position in Charles’ court and giving us an understanding of the kind of woman she was. We empathise with ‘poor Nellie’ by the end of the play, but we never pity her. This was a woman who knew her own mind from the beginning and stayed true to herself despite the impossibility of her situation.

There are, of course, many parallels that can be drawn between Gwynn’s life and modern times. Occasionally, we’re allowed references that we all get. Some are political and make the point well, but my favourite was a marvellous reference to a rather famous film that was simply hilarious.

Rose Shalloo, playing the titular character, steps up to the mark of making Swale’s writing come alive. With an Eliza Doolittle style of presenting the character, her Henry Higgins is Charles Hart, the actor who introduces her to the world of acting. Hart is played incredibly sympathetically by Elliot Harper and you can’t help but feel great affection for the man who is portrayed as being a true friend to Gwynn, whatever their sexual relationship was or was not.

Equally sympathetic is the portrayal by Guy Woolf of Charles II. Woolf goes beyond the stereotype of a womanising fop who only wants to have fun and ‘be entertained’. He shows us a monarch who, yes, is these things in part, but is also one who cares about his country, about the arts and is acutely aware of his own dangerous position, brought back to the throne having seen his father lose his head because of it. There is real chemistry between Woolf and Shalloo’s characters that gives us a glimpse into what each saw in the other.

I can’t go through each of the nine-member cast, especially as they were pretty much all as capable and talented as each other and I will run out of adjectives to say, effectively, the same thing. I will just say though, that if I had a criticism, it would be that we don’t see enough of Stanton Wright’s wonderful portrayal of Edward Kynaston, an actor outraged by an untrained woman becoming the first leading lady. Wright camped the role up a treat and was a joy to watch on stage every single time. You end up really quite loving the character by the end.

It is telling that this production was not called ‘Nell Gwynn: The Musical’, despite the fact there are a plethora of songs throughout both acts. The pieces have their role within the plot and are part of the action rather than commentaries that pause the story as you find in musicals. Nevertheless, I’ve seen many musicals in my time and – truth be told – endured more than a few tuneless songs from new writers that somehow really don’t get your toe tapping nor have you humming as you leave the theatre. Not so with Candida Caldicot, composer and musical director for this production. The songs are simply brilliant. They’re fun, they’re toe-tapping, they’re witty and, most of all, every single one is an earworm. Caldicot makes it look easy to knock up a genuine tune. I wish she were the composer for a lot more productions I get to see!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Nell Gwynn and even getting a £50 fine for not parking properly in a bay in Cumberland Council’s inadequately small car park outside the theatre couldn’t dampen my delightful afternoon as a result. The combination of excellent writing, acting and music (all performed live by the actors, by the way) has rarely worked so well and in such harmony with one another. Nell Gwynn is a joyous celebration of a bold woman well ahead of her time. A commoner who considered herself equal to kings, she broke every boundary and succeeded beyond expectation. We come away learning something from the woman about ourselves and admiring her greatly. And through it all, we are entertained. Oh, how we are entertained.

Nell Gwynn plays at Theatre by the Lake until Saturday 01 August. Tickets are available here.

Ken Powell is chief editor for Northern Arts Review and is also a bestselling author and writer for various publications around the world. A former school teacher, he continues to write educational books along with fiction and travelogues. You can find all his books and various websites here including his popular TEDx talk about the Global Village. He lives with his family in a wonderfully isolated village in West Cumbria where he enjoys drinking tea, chatting with the birds and winding up his dog. You can support his work (or just buy him a coffee) here.