The Cabinet Minister – Menier Chocolate Factory, London

Writer: Arthur Wing Pinero

Adaptor: Nancy Carroll

Director: Paul Foster

Can you make an 1891 political satire work from over 130 years ago? The Cabinet Minister at Menier’s Chocolate Factory provides an answer with mixed results.

Debts, poorly handed financial decisions and self-serving snobbery amongst a politician and his family, The Cabinet Minister may not have been on a London stage since 1991, but on paper, it’s a story uncomfortably familiar to the British public today. It’s an engaging show with heaps of laughs. But unfortunately, relying on relatability alone is not enough for this production. The problem lies not with the performers, who prance around the stage with affected upper-class affectations and are a joy to watch. But the pace and ridiculousness expected from Arthur Wing Pinero’s Victorian farcical satire is not met.

There are many successes in the show, particularly with the musical and acting performances of the multi-talented cast. We see Lady Catherine Twombley (Nancy Carroll) hide her irresponsible spending from the incompetent Cabinet Minister Lord Julian Twombley (Nicholas Rowe). With various arranged and unarranged marriages and the scheming of the social climbing Fanny Lackluster (Phoebe Fildes) and her brother Bernard (Laurence Ubong Williams), hilarity ensues.

A standout performance comes from Sara Crowe as the Dowager of Dumdurris, a character who drives the plot with her various ‘motives’ and brings reserved dryness that really works, even in a farce. George Blagden, as Valentine White, a man who ‘slightly pongs’ after travelling the world in an effort to get away from English pomposity and elitism, is equally a delight to watch. Rosalind Ford, as Valentine’s love interest Imogen Twombley, provides one of the few moments of the true farcical energy the audience desired, particularly in her excellent recreation of ‘coming out’ in society in her sweeping veil. The Scottish mother-son duo of Lady Macphail and her son Colin (Dillie Keane and Matthew Woodyatt) are a scene-stealing duo and are the source of an excellent recurring joke.

All the moving parts seem to work, with the solid performers and effective set and costume design (work of Janet Bird), which adds to the overall playful feel of the production. But perhaps it is the sleepiness of a Saturday matinee, but there is a distinct lack of pace in Paul Foster’s direction that fails to push the production into absurdity and draw enough laughs for a truly farcical show. The performers, in turn, don’t get the energy they need from the audience for the jokes, and this slightly sleepy atmosphere only grows.

Nancy Carrol’s adaptation of this Victorian play makes all plot lines clear and keeps some of the best motifs and puns. But from the outset, the story struggles to get going fast enough. Some elements reach the voracious pace expected of a show, but many moments seem to drag, allowing the audience to simply switch off. Although expecting the silliness of a Pinero farce, we are instead being left with a Victorian play that has laughs, but not as many as they’d like. It’s not doubted an enjoyable watch, but the overall feeling is dissatisfaction.

Runs until 16 November 2024