Nell Gywnn, theatre review: Gemma Arterton a joy in this blissful whirl

Jessica Swale’s witty, feminist-slanting play about one of the most famous performers ever to have trod the London boards is largely a delight, says Fiona Mountford
Leading lady: Gemma Arterton is delightful as Nell Gwynn in Jessica Swale’s witty show
Fiona Mountford18 February 2016

Welcome back, Nell: you’ve been away too long. How jolly-making it is, in these dreary February days, to find bouncing around in the West End Jessica Swale’s witty play about one of the most famous performers ever to have trod the London boards. Nell Gwynn, orange seller at Drury Lane turned comic actress and mistress of Charles II, is here to entertain us, and we should be glad of it.

The talented Swale’s feminist-slanting drama, which takes a gently tongue-in-cheek look at some of the absurdities of 17th-century theatrical life, debuted to much acclaim at the Globe last autumn, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw ably assuming Nell’s saucy smile, flirtily hoisted petticoats and steely determination.

Gemma Arterton takes the part now and she’s a delightful combination of Nell’s qualities too, although like the rest of the lively ensemble made slightly heavy weather of the high-spirited first half on opening night. Swale’s script needs to leap and twirl, not to have its jokes and ripostes over-laboured as though the actors don’t fully trust them. I’ll put this down to first-night nerves, as the second half was a marked improvement. Christopher Luscombe’s ebullient production, which is blessed with some ripe comic ditties from Nigel Hess, sweeps us up from the start in a blissful whirl of theatricals.

After the austere days of Cromwell’s Commonwealth, the theatre is all the rage once more and there’s a new fad for putting a woman — an “actor-ess” — on the stage. The King’s Company at Drury Lane seizes upon the playful Nell, much to the vocal and oft-expressed disgust of Edward Kynaston (wonderful Greg Haiste), a specialist in female roles.

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Events hasten onwards, Nell catches the eye of the King (a nicely droll David Sturzaker) and court politics start to insinuate its way into the action, but the theatre retains its rightful place at the centre of everything.

The line “Playhouses are a valuable national asset” gets the biggest cheer of the night and our hearts leap each time the scene returns to Drury Lane, where Michele Dotrice provides sterling support as Nell’s stout and doughty dresser-cum-understudy, Nancy. How pleasing to see the ladies, from Swale to Ms Gwynn herself, leading the way.

Until April 30, Apollo Theatre (0330 333 4809)

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