Belvoir’s B Sharp program is featuring ‘A Family Affair’, a nineteenth century Russian play written by Alexander Ostrovsky, during the month of August, at its new venue, the Downstairs theatre at the Seymour Centre.
The play was adapted from the Russian by contemporary British playwright Nick Dear, and has been co-produced by Drama Lab Productions. The program noted that Drama Lab’s charter is to tackle less well known classic plays, which the mainstream companies often do not produce, and to present them in a fresh and contemporary way.
In the play Bolshov is a nouveau riche Russian merchant whose business has accumulated a massive list of creditors. He has no intention of paying them out and comes up with a devious plan. He declares bankruptcy and transfers his assets to his trusted clerk, Lazar. Much to Bolshov’s surprise Lazar then asks to marry his unattractive, difficult to wed daughter, Lipochka.
‘A Family Affair’ comes down to being a bit of a parable about blind trust leading to major embarrassment. Predictably Lazar leads the corrupt Bolshov a merry dance.
Director Nicola Parry played out the production in a comic, tongue in cheek melodramatic vein that worked. The cast performed strongly, my pick were Ed Wightman as the snaky Lazar, Cecily Hardy in a big hearted performance, and Jonathan Elsom as a delightfully hammy Bolshov.
