13 Nov 2023
Deborah Heath sniffs out the new production by the Company of Ten at the Abbey Theatre…
Based on the Hungarian play ‘Illatszertar’ by Miklos Laszlo, this English version has been adapted by his nephew E.P.Dowdell. The story might be familiar with you as it has been the focus of three films including ‘The Shop Around the Corner’ starring James Stewart and ‘You’ve Got Mail’ with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. It tells the interweaving tales of the proprietor and employees of a Parfumerie in the early 1930s.
Now, Company of Ten have proved to me time and time again that their set and prop design is second to none but the way they rose to this challenge was remarkable. In all the years I have been involved in the theatre, I honestly cannot remember seeing any set boasting such exquisite beauty as this and even if you aren’t interested in the play – which you should be – I would advise booking a ticket for the privilege of looking at it!
It is a symphony of turquoise and green with mind-blowing attention to detail from handmade logos on the perfectly sourced 1930s uniforms, to the perfume bottle labels and to the set itself. Counter fronts had been expertly painted to resemble marble and the mezzanine level was fitted with wooden drawers containing an appealing collection of packages.
I take my hat off to Beccy Baird, John Mc Clenahan and Anthea Buxton for the set and prop design, alongside their talented painting and construction crew. I’m glad I won’t be there to witness the set being taken down because I think I would feel rather emotional!
If this wasn’t enough to lose themselves in the action, the audience were treated to the characters interacting onstage as we entered. With cameo roles from over ten CoT members, they showed the action of a busy shop helping customers in the run up to Christmas. I love the use of “extras” to help create atmosphere and this device was very well executed by director Beccy Baird.
This adaptation of the play did present some challenges though. For instance, there were a few jarring words and idioms in the script that felt too modern for the period such as “I get you” but this is not a criticism of the production itself. The placing of the interval was unusual – the second half is half an hour longer than the first and contains most of the action of the play. This meant that the cast had a harder job keeping the pace up in the first half.
It was great to see the line up featuring so many new members to CoT, some of which had screen experience and some youth theatre. Alongside stalwart shining lights Russell Vincent and Ian Pritchard, newcomers such as Faye Sarron as Miss Molnar were able to hone their stage skills and thrive. There were some pleasing performances from these younger actors and it must have been wonderful for Russell Vincent to perform alongside his two sons!
This play is a light comedy and for this reason I must give due praise to Russell for the expert way in which he maintained his role of serious proprietor Mr Hammerschmidt throughout. His strength as a performer was humbling and glued everything together. His counterpart, Mr Sipsos, wise, wry and world weary was played with perfect timing by Ian Pritchard. There was something of the John le Mesurier about him and portraying this sort of role doesn’t get much better than that!
I hadn’t seen Guy Conroy-Smith and Tanishia Gearing in romantic roles before. One of Guy Conroy-Smith’s strengths is his comic timing and reactions and I admired the way he was able to weave this in, particularly towards the end of the play. Tanishia Gearing’s character of Amalia Balash goes through some interesting character development during the course of the story and she responded to this with great sensitivity giving a believable performance.
Stephen Kaldar, the oily cad of the story was very well portrayed by Callum Oakaby Wright who gave us the character we love to hate!
‘Parfumerie’”’ is a character piece and like the very finest situation comedies, the humour arises from the interaction between them and the way they react to the challenges of everyday life. Therefore, this story is timelessly appealing and I encourage anyone to get a ticket on these grounds, not to mention any lover of art who is intrigued to see one of the most beautiful sets ever. Great work Company of Ten!
