The Thunderbolt – Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond

Writer: Arthur Wing Pinero

Director: Sam Waters

Reviewer: James Higgins

The Public Reviews Rating:

In Edwardian England political and social upheaval was taking place and the country was a few short years away from the horror of World War One. Arthur Wing Pinero was the son of a solicitor whose family had arrived in England in the 18th century. When his father died he left the world of law, entered the world of theatre and began to write. Not performed since 1966, The Thunderbolt, directed by Sam Walters has been revived and is presented in a charming and wonderfully nostalgic manner.

In his 1908 play Pinero moves away from the London society of his earlier acclaimed The Second Mrs Tanqueray, to the small town politics, tension and rivalry of a sleepy provincial town in the Midlands. We join the Mortimore family as they gather to mourn the passing of eldest brother Ned, a man with whom they had little contact but who had amassed a small fortune as a successful local brewer. Who will inherit the fortune is unclear and the family are at the beck and call of the lawyers. There appears to be no will and in a further twist there is also an illegitimate daughter from Paris. The play explores the complex relationships between the siblings showing how greed, keeping up appearances and pretension lead to tension and dispute.

Geoff Leesley is alpha sibling James Mortimore a man of local prominence who doesn’t have the funds to match. The same can be said of his brother Stephen (David Whitworth) a local newspaper proprietor jealous of his rival. Helen Thornhill, played convincingly by Grainne Keenan, is a young lady whose arrival really puts the cat amongst the pigeons. David Antrobus and Vincent Brimble are both excellent as family lawyers Mr Vallance and Mr Elkin, the two of them being caught up in the most middle class of predicaments. Natalie Ogle (Phyllis Mortimore) returns to stage after many years with a heart-warming performance wracked with guilt and angst. It is Stuart Fox as Thaddeus Mortimore that steals the show with a huge performance of a man full of emotion and despair who is determined to protect the wife he loves at all costs.

At nearly 3 hours long the play did drag more than it needed to in an attempt to convey the story. It was however charming and engaging, and thanks to two or three very strong performances, not least from Stuart Fox, managed to keep the audience enthralled and entertained as we winced at the Mortimores playing at keeping up with the Joneses. There is no need to be snobbish at this performance, which delivered as Mr Pinero would have expected.