Kitty Vs Teia

Kitty

**** This restoration romp certainly kept me smiling!

Dominic cooper is happily given a lot to do as the famous rake, navigating the stage with enough heated charisma to melt a navy frigate.

From the riotous opening to his last breath after a lifetime of debauchery, the play is Restoration rich and bawdily entertaining, though I felt that Stephen Jeffreys may have got distracted by the end, which reads as rather swift and not as profound as it deserves to be.

Elsewhere The Libertine is replete with some good old fashioned 17th century hijinks, a toffish Charles II knocks about with dildo obsessed orange sellers, Wilmot and his pals create chaos as they drunkenly navigate life and meditate - filthily - on the nature of theatre and literature. But the best lines fall to his valet Allcock, who happily points out his master's ever increasing foibles in dry tones, staying with him until his excesses lead him to his early grave.

Regardless of the infamous prologue battle cry of 'You will not like me', it is difficult not to fall for Cooper's caddish Wilmot and his redemptive arc, in a role he was certainly born to play. As the comic elements fall away leaving the rawness of a sober life to the self styled genius of Wilmot, Cooper hits every mark, and it is to his merit that he makes the final act so touching after all that vulgarity and mirth.

@ThisIsKittyMac

Teia

*** Dominic Cooper has the sex appeal, but lacks emotional depth

At a time in human history where even the faintest whiff of scandal can land you a reality show, it's hard to imagine a West End Production raising many eyebrows in this day and age. Yet when I looked to my right after the interval at the Royal Haymarket's latest production of Stephen Jeffreys' The Libertine, a few stall seats were empty of their former patrons. Did they leave in protest of the saucy onstage proceedings? Or did they perhaps feel the production did not pack the punch it should have? I have a feeling it may have been the latter.

Former History Boy Dominic Cooper attempts to sink his teeth into the meaty role of Restoration rake John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester, and while he gives an admirable performance, I'm not convinced his Wilmot is dastardly enough to bring the portrayal out from under the shadows of Johnny Depp and John Malkovich's turns as the doomed intellectual. That famous opening monologue, in which Rochester warns the audience to keep a safe distance (assuring us that we will not like him) falls slightly flat in retrospect. I realize I'm rather apathetic towards the man, his caddish capers and subsequent downfall. The story rests on the subtle likeability and charm of its polarizing lead character, yet Cooper's portrayal is too clinical.

There is feeling in Ophelia Lovibond's spirited portrayal of Wilmot's student and lover Elizabeth Barry and the ensemble cast ups the ante with bursts of well-timed and raucous humour throughout. While I enjoyed these irreverent, ribald moments of well-crafted wit and innuendo, they weren't enough to assuage the growing indifference I felt towards the production's titular character, whose war with the establishment and social niceties of the day (and ultimately himself) should have packed a bit more of that punch from the start.

The Libertine is at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until December 3rd.

View our show pages for more information about The Libertine, Theatre Royal Haymarket.