It’s been over a century since the laddish man-about-town Bertie Wooster and his inimitable butler Jeeves first appeared in print. But Charing Cross Theatre’s new stage adaptation from James and Edward Duke and director Hugh Wooldridge proves that the old ‘coves’ still have life in them yet. Jeeves Takes Charge is a likeable interpretation that dials the camp up to eleven, thanks to a barnstorming, near-one-handed performance from lead Sam Harrison.
Jeeves Takes Charge consists of a trilogy of short stories taken from the P.G. Wodehouse classics. The first is an origin story, showing how Jeeves enters Wooster’s employ and proves himself indispensable by aiding in a caper involving a stolen manuscript. The follow-up depicts Jeeves’ scheme to head off Wooster’s dreams of fatherhood by tricking him into giving a lecture at an unforgiving girls’ school. After the interval, the duo’s plan to play cupid for a lovesick friend goes awry when they double-dose the teetotaller’s drink with gin.
Director Wooldridge’s adaptation is incredibly faithful to Wodehouse’s work, the text transposed to the stage with little change; it’s almost a dramatic reading rather than a play. Wodehouse’s brilliant turn of phrase and comedic flair is not in doubt, and this unadulterated dramatisation offers the full impact of his articulation and wit.
The task of bringing the words to life is undertaken largely by just one actor, the impressive Harrison, who is joined briefly by two supporting actors after the interval. Embodying not just the two iconic leads but a range of absurd side characters is no mean feat, but Harrison is fantastic. These farcical tales demand a physical, camp performance that he delivers in spades, throwing himself hither and thither and voicing only the plummiest of accents.
If anything, the pace feels almost too frenetic, the motormouthed, scatological storytelling jumping from tangent to tangent in a manner that is sometimes hard to follow. But it’s all part and parcel of the high-energy, high-camp nature of the comedy on offer. And Harrison certainly wrings every laugh out of the material.
A further impressive addition is Caite Hevner’s set, a stately room of yesteryear that is transformed in every scene by the clever use of projections that provide ever-changing wallpaper, furnishings and backdrops.
Jeeves Takes Charge contains a particular kind of nostalgic, slapstick humour that won’t appeal to all audiences. Bear in mind this is the sort of show where characters have names like “Dame Daphne Winkworth” and “Gussie Fink-Nottle”. But for fans of the Wodehouse brand of comedy, this is an astute and appealing adaptation.
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