Quality Street At Royal And Derngate, Northampton Review

Reviewed by Janine Rumble

Quality Street is a regency comedy written by J. M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan) and first performed in 1902. It was very popular in its day and gave its name to the sweets of the same name. This Northern Broadsides/New Vic production incorporates the original play in this new play with the adaptation of the employees of Mackintosh’s (who made Quality Street) watching the play and talking about their life and times of working in Mackintosh’s. It is a very clever concept that came from the employees of Mackintosh’s were invited to watch the rehearsal of Quality Street in Halifax. Whilst watching the rehearsals, they talked about what they liked about the play and about their work in the factory. These anecdotes were recorded and included in the final play in 2020.

The play is a farce set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars and revolves around two sisters who set up a school when one of the sister’s suitors enlists in the war. Fast forward ten years and the suitor has returned and fails to recognise the girl he left behind, the farce begins when she pretends to be her niece to woo him.
There were lots of laughs to be had, especially near the end of the play as the situation on stage became more and more ridiculous.

The play begins with the employees from the chocolate factory coming on stage to watch the rehearsals. The characters on stage are based on real people and the real anecdotes they shared. They begin to watch the play and the farce begins. Throughout the play, the factory workers appear on stage and move the furniture and props, which is a very clever way of changing the set from one period to the next. The stage is very simple with metal poles joined together to represent both the factory and the walls of the home of the two main characters. Very cleverly, part of the backdrop is the plastic strip curtain found in many factories to represent the factory, but also used as a doorway of the house.

The costumes were amazing, especially the soldiers’ uniforms and the dresses for the final ball. There is a small cast ensemble, with some people playing more than one character. Aron Julius (Valentine Brown), Paula Lane (Phoebe Throssel) and Louisa-May Parker (Susan Throssel) were brilliant. Their timings were spot on and their acting was superb, especially Louisa-May, who plays the despairing older sister.

Jelani, D’Aguilar, Alice Imelda, Alicia McKenzie, Alex Moran, Jamie Smelt and Gilly Tomkins were also superb as the two or three different characters they played and the actors who portrayed the children, who were actually puppets, made them very believable and funny.

The first part of the play is a little slow and although there were some funny moments, I did wonder what I was watching. The second half was much quicker and funnier. Having had no real idea of what the play was about, I did enjoy the play and the performances of the actors. If you like a good farce, then I recommend this play. I give this play 3 out of 5 stars, purely because it was not the usual type of play I would watch at the theatre.

Quality Street is on until Saturday 8th April in the Royal theatre, which is a lovely old building (built in 1884) connected to the newer Derngate theatre. It retains many of the old features, which make it a beautiful theatre to be in. Although the seats can become uncomfortable after sitting on them for a long while. The Royal & Derngate is easy to get to with car parks within short walking distances away. There is disabled access throughout both buildings and the facilities are clean and presentable. There are a number of bars throughout the complex selling a range of alcohol, soft drinks, ice cream, sweets and theatre programmes. All staff are polite, helpful and courteous. I would recommend going to the Royal for the sense of history and nostalgia that only an old theatre can bring.

On Tuesday and Saturday, there are matinee performances and Wednesday’s evening performance is audio described and Thursday’s evening performance is signed.

Tickets begin at £22.00.

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For more information or to book tickets please visit Home – Royal & Derngate (royalandderngate.co.uk)
or phone the box office on 01604 624811.