It’s a well-known and much-loved comedy – and it’s celebrating its 100 years’ anniversary. Hobson’s Choice by Mr Harold Brighouse is a story about the worm that turned.
The over-bearing owner of a boot store – Henry Hobson - insists his three daughters do all the work – without pay – while he spends his time at the local alehouse. His two bootmakers – Tubby and assistant Willie – work in the cellar and kow-tow to the family. Yet Maggie, the eldest, has a secret plan to get all three girls married and away from his influence.
The rotating set is highly detailed and provocative of the era. From an old-fashioned shop – with high stacked shelves – to a dusty cellar workshop and finally to an unkempt living room. There’s one scene, where Hobson returns home inebriated, where he walks through the moving set and you share his dizziness.
The rousing brass band music and Lancashire accents add an authentic note. The dialogue is crisp and clever – at one point conveying a timeless argument between father and daughters about fashionable versus immodest dressing, at another a delightful dissection of the legal profession and also a brilliant exchange with a stern, Scottish doctor about abstinence.
Martin Sheen, playing the lead Henry Hobson, was skilful in his portrayal of the journey from upright, dominating master to abandoned, frail and pitiful alcoholic. Christopher Timothy, another giant of theatre, has a relatively small part which meant his impact was limited. But the production was owned by two other actors.
Bryan Dick – playing Willie Mossop – was laugh-out-loud funny when he first appeared as a timid young worker. He generated chuckles as he nervously and reluctantly faced his wedding to assertive Maggie. But his transformation into a confident and articulate businessman was convincing and powerful.
The other star was undoubtedly Naomi Frederick who played Maggie - the highly capable eldest sister who manages the shop and the customers with skill but is written off, by her father, as an old maid. She was magnificent and the epitome of a strong woman. She’s confident, scheming and fantastically in control. Yet she plays the character with a calm reassurance and touching delicacy that was a joy to behold.
The play is in four acts. It starts at 730pm and, with a short interval, finishes around 945pm.
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/hobsons-choice-2016/richmond-theatre/
