Jerome K Jerome's 1889 novella about three Victorian gents rowing the Thames has been turned into a perky, fun-forward stage adaptation at the Rose theatre in Kingston upon Thames, directed by Christopher Haydon and running until 10 October.
The production, written by Al Smith, follows pompous hypochondriac Jerome (Jonny Weldon), eccentric Harris (Bronté Barbé, sporting a false moustache and lower voice notes) and lugubrious George (Richard David-Caine) on a river trip starting from Kingston. The trio is accompanied by fox terrier Montmorency, here played by a rag puppet animated by Calum Donald-Bruce.
Adapting a discursive classic
Smith's dramatisation juggles chronology, opening with the book's sixth chapter, and anchors famous set pieces—a swan attack, putrid cheese and a murder investigation—in a new narrative in which the men head to Oxford for Harris's wedding, with his choice of best man a source of friction. George, originally a bachelor banker, is reimagined as a recently widowed doctor with a bleak monologue about bereavement, a tonal stand-in for an incident in the original where the boaters spot a floating corpse.
Music and slapstick dominate
The 135-minute show includes eight musical numbers by Grant Olding, incorporating Gilbert and Sullivan, opera, music hall, banjos, bagpipes and accordions, plus a biographical patter song about Jerome, an Italianate aria for the cheese and a Tchaikovsky ballet pastiche choreographed by Simon Hardwick for the swan river sequence. One actor makes an applause-winning entrance from an improbable location.
While the poster, referencing Magritte and Dalí, suggests surrealism, slapstick dominates in an engaging evening that smooths the jagged oddness of the book. The show runs at the Rose theatre, Kingston upon Thames, until 10 October.
