New York romance is a fun night out, thanks to The Mill
Barefoot in the Park The Mill at Sonning until August 20 0118 969 8000 millatsonning.com
BAREFOOT in the park opened last week at the Mill at Sonning. It’s a feel-good romantic farce, delivered with warmth and humour.
The story unfolds in the top floor apartment of a Manhattan condominium in the mid sixties.
it’s February and newly weds Corrie and Paul are setting up home together.
The space is not ideal - there’s no bathtub and the closet is leaky.
But there is the expectation of a ‘wonderful new life’ ahead of them.
Corrie is young and lovely, the sort of girl to ‘jump straight in’ to whatever life offers her.
Paul is an aspiring lawyer who ‘looks first’ before he jumps, and irons his ties.
Corrie adores the apartment. Paul does not.
They are gloriously in love, but clearly expect different things from life and from marriage.
Will they find common ground and flourish together?
When Corrie’s mildly depressed mother unexpectedly drops in, tensions begin to rise.
And the couple meet their new and eccentric neighbour, Victor Velasco.
Then Corrie sets up her mother on a date with this enthusiastically impractical man, and a wild night out follows.
All the ingredients of a farce now in place, emotions fly, heated accusations are thrown and a suitable amount of doorslamming follows.
Neil Simon’s comic play first appeared on Broadway in 1963.
It was his longest running show and has been warmly received since then.
It was filmed in 1967, and starred Robert Redford and Jane Fonda as Paul and Corrie.
Robin Herford directs this production with affection and humour.
The cast is strong throughout and the actors keep a tight ship.
Their physical comedy is slick, the humour is well delivered, and the audience is warmly invited into the story from the outset.
Hannah Pauley is delightfully warm and appealing as Corrie.
Jonny Labey is suitably devoted, yet uptight as Paul.
Rachel Fielding is charmingly manipulative as pink pill popping mother, Mrs Banks.
James Simmons is irresponsible and flamboyant as the down at heel neighour, Velasco.
And Oliver Stanley, as the phone technician, manages to remain cheerfully awkward in the thick of it.
Stylistically, the production nods appropriately to the 1960s but deftly avoids creating a museum piece.
Because of this the play feels fresh, and its modern audience can engage readily with the story.
And the production is sprinkled with the warm sounds of Simon and Garfunkel, which complement the themes perfectly.
Michael Holt’s set is beguilingly simple and elegant.
Uncluttered, but with touches of bold colour, it neatly conveys both inside and outside the apartment.
Finally, the stairs probably should get a mention.
Almost another character, they are never actually seen, yet provide great opportunities for laughs.
The Mill at Sonning regulars love their theatre and this show should give its audiences a warm glow during its run.
On the opening night one audience member described it as ‘a lovely night out.’
And they weren’t wrong.
All tickets include a twocourse meal in the theatre’s impressive waterside restaurant.