GIGI To 21 November.
London.
GIGI
by Anita Loos based on the novel by Colette.
Tabard Theatre 2 Bath Road Chiswick W4 1LW To 21 November 2015.
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sun 2pm.
Runs 2hr 10min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8995 6035.
www.tabardweb.co.uk
Review: William Russell 3 November.
Little girls grow up in interesting ways.
This polished, well-played production by Mark Giesser makes a fascinating contrast with the Lerner and Lowe musical version of Gigi. Anita Loos did not don rose-coloured spectacles; Gigi is sixteen.
Colette’s book was about a grande cocotte great aunt and her sister, Gigi’s grandmother, training the girl to be mistress of man about town Gaston Lachaille. That’s how things were in turn of the century Paris for a young woman with no fortune and only her looks and wits to help her survive.
It’s a cold-hearted little tale. At the end of Loos’ play one is left feeling Gigi is the cleverest of the lot – in marriage she gets a husband, adding financial security to a mistress’s house, jewels and car.
Daisy May makes a delightful Gigi, her heart more calculating than one is led to believe throughout; Richard Lynson is suitably vain and foolish as Gaston, while Prue Clarke and Pamela Miles are nicely avaricious and cold-hearted as the realistic older women who want to ensure Gigi’s future.
There is a nice comic turn from Zoe Teverson as her opera singer mother, a woman foolish beyond belief, with a taste for champagne, and Zoe Simon as the obligatory comic maid – the play was written in 1950 when such maids were light relief.
The result is an evening to relish, well-acted, with a clever set by Christopher Hone, directed with some panache by Mark Giesser. Though whether, in the long run, Gaston thanked heaven for this particular little girl is left nicely unresolved.
One small reservation has to be expressed – the cordless telephone, which plays quite an important role, did not exist in 1900.
Sidonie: Zoe Simon.
Mme Alvarez: Prue Clarke.
Gigi: Daisy May.
Andree: Zoe Teverson.
Gaston Lachaille: Richard Lynson.
Victor: John Sears.
Alicia de St Ephlam: Pamela Miles.
Director: Mark Giesser.
Designer: Christopher Hone.
Costume: Giulia Scrimieri.
Lighting/Sound: Michele Cadei.
Costume: Giulia Scrimieri.
2015-11-04 01:36:37