Wonderland Theatre ©2003-2009

Moliere's - The Miser

 Production Details Production Index
The Irish Times
Quite simply superb! Witty, wonderful, Wonderland. I had not seen a performance by Wonderland Productions before, though they have been in existence since 2003, nor have I come across a more promising company since the debut years of Rough Magic. A late beginning did not augur well, but that was soon forgotten as venue, performance, pace, writing and costumes wed into a intoxicating mix of what is probably Molière’s best farce. Translated, written and directed by the clearly multi-talented Alice Coghlan, it has been updated to Georgian Dublin (of the 1770s) with strong resonances for today. Martin Philips is utterly unsympathetic as Harpagon, as he should be, and I single him out only because he was the lead. There was not a weak link in the excellent cast. I just hope that when the Fringe Festival ends this production finds a home in a larger venue. It deserves to.
By Patsy McGarry
14th September, reviewing The Miser’s Opening Night
The Irish Mail on Sunday
Verdict: Fresh Molière shows us the filthy lucre…
This late play by Molière is pure seventeenth century situation comedy, satirising a soulless obsession with money. It’s full of misunderstandings, revelations, double-dealing servants and thwarted lovers.

A sparkling fast-paced production in the eighteenth century surroundings of the Joyce Centre in North Great St Georges’ St, at its core is the pathologically miserly widower Harpagon, keen to marry the lovely wealthy Mariane, who of course loves not him, but his penniless son Cléante. Harpagon’s daughter Élise is in love with the steward, but her father wants her to marry the elderly, wealthy Anselme. The subplots have Connolly Heron as a street-wise fixer sharper than his aristocratic masters, and Paul Nolan as a vengeful chef. There is other first class acting support from Sarah-Jayne Quigley (Élise), Eithne McGuiness as the unscrupulous matchmaker and Declan McGauran as Cléante.

Martin Philips gives a scintillating, exhausting performance as the skinflint Harpagon, in this adaptation by Alice Coghlan, who has moved the setting from Paris to eighteenth century Dublin and has thrown in occasional modern colloquialisms and references for comic effect, but has otherwise remained close to the original. Coghlan also directs with pace and an excellent eye for detail.
By Michael Moffat
16th September, reviewing The Miser’s Opening Night
The Sunday Independent
Molière’s great satire is inventively staged by Coghlan’s company, Wonderland, in the drawing room of 35 North Great St Georges’ St (the James Joyce Centre) and there’s some fairly spiffing acting on display, particularly from Martin Philips in the title role, Shadaan Felfeli as Valère and Eithne McGuiness as the scheming Frosine.
By Emer O’Kelly
16th September 2007
The Daily Mail
Verdict: A rumbustious production

There’s a little irony in having a site-specific staging of one of Molière’s comedies. His plays could be improvised pretty much anywhere: tennis courts, inn yards, the halls of the great houses. Molière would certainly approve the choice of the Georgian rooms of the James Joyce Centre, however, and the cast leave little doubt that they could put this show on anywhere that has enough space or a couple of sash windows.

The audience is seated in the thick of the action, which concerns the efforts of the insanely avaricious money-lender Harpagon (Martin Philips) to keep secreted the strongbox full of money which he’s convinced everyone, including his two children – Cleanté (Declan McGauran) and Élise Sarah-Jayne Quigley) – are out to steal, and to get himself and his daughter married off with as little expense as humanly possible.

Mariane (Bernie O’Reilly) the girl he’s selected, is also the girl Cleanté has set his heart on, while Anselme (Alberto Albertino) the rich, middle-aged Italian he’s sacrificing Élise to, is the father of Valère (Shadaan Felfeli), his steward, Élise’s true lover.

The rest of the cast do a fine job of soaking up Harpagon’s dementia. McGauran’s tall, bewigged Cleanté is a visually appealing and amusing contrast with Harpagon’s sneering austerity. Eithne McGuinness as the marriage-broker is the plump epitome of lead painted amorality, one of the few characters who can hold Harpagon’s attention. The cast’s frequent exits and entrances could be timed more effectively, but all told it’s a good-looking boisterous production, which will doubtless sharpen up during the rest of its run.
By John McKeown
14th September, reviewing The Miser’s Preview Night
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