CASANOVA

Full performance credit, reviews and more

AUDIENCE QUOTES

“Quite brilliant – exceptional originality, immersive experience. You have a winner!!”

“Witty, inventive, fast paced, superbly acted, imaginatively staged, excellent!”

“Brilliantly written, directed, produced and performed. Funny and dramatic. Five stars”

PRODUCTION REVIEW
Spinning Wheel Theatre is one of those enterprising ensembles which the East Anglian air seems to generate; you see similar sort of activity down in the West Country, so perhaps a certain geographical remoteness also comes into the equation. For its current short rural tour Amy Wyllie has created Casanova. That’s right, a three-actor historical drama with epic pretensions.
Wyllie’s main influence seems to be Marie Antoinette, the 2006 film by Sofia Coppola with its soundtrack mixing genuine 18th century music with a more popular – even punk – 20th century beat. It’s all pleasantly tongue-in-cheek as Joe Leat introduces us to the title character and his many shifts to create a name and a place for himself. There’s more than a touch of Candide or even Don Quixote in his eternal optimism mingled with a definite naîveté.
It’s an enjoyable performance which lets the audience into the joke right from his first appearance. All the women in Casanova’s life (and there were a great number of them) are played by Lucy Benson-Brown with the aid of a dazzling array of quick gown and headgear changes; design is by Becca Gibbs. All the men who either help or (the majority) hinder our hero’s picaresque career come in the form of Samuel Norris.

It’s a romp and not to be taken too seriously though the comparatively quiet ending where Casanova finds a sort of contentment in writing his memoirs under the protection of the Prince de Ligne, visited by his first (and possibly only true) love Henriette, gives a gentle sense of quiet fulfilment. He’s come to the end of his journey, and to the end of his days. What remains is a legend.

Anne Morley-Priestman (What’s on stage),
Sheringham Little Theatre, 1/10/16

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Cast
Casanova
Joe Leat

Henriette and others
Lucy Benson-Brown

Charles de Ligne and others
Samuel Norris

crew

Directed by
Amy Wyllie

Designed by
Becca Gibbs

Production Manager
Andy Stubbs

Tour Technician
Nick Stewart

Set Build
Scenic Productions

Scenic Artist
Nick Holmes

Poster Image
Franklin Neilson

Supported by

Arts Council England
The Unity Theatre Trust