Theatre review: Home and Beauty

WSomerset Maugham’s cynical take on the very English aristocracy in the aftermath of the Great War brings another dimension to the current season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. The author describes this piece as a farce and while not in the Brian Rix, trouser-dropping form of the genre, it does have its share of belly laughs and confusing situations.

Victoria lost her husband, Bill, at Ypres and after a respectable interval, she marries his best man Frederick. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Bill returns “from the dead” and the problems begin.

Victoria doesn’t particularly want either of them and neither of them particularly want to remain married to her.

It is delightfully over-played, with director Richard Baron’s deftness at the helm of all the daftness.

Isla Carter is quite superb as the vacuous Victoria, full of melodramatic posturing.

Simon Pontin and Reece Richardson are the two husbands, well suited as rivals and later, buddies.

They come to the fore in the second act, when they both realise that life with Victoria is too demanding.

The third act brings the idea of a double divorce. This act will never be considered WSM’s finest literary achievement but if it wasn’t there, we would miss the wonderful idiosyncratic portrayal by Mark Elstob as the seen-it-all divorce lawyer.

And there is also a fleeting glimpse of Helen Logan as Mrs Pogson, with large behind and even larger affront at the idea of actually doing any work It’s all a jolly spiffing wheeze. Home and Beauty continues on various dates until October 15.

It is delightfully over-played