Rupert stars as Leonard Charteris, The Philanderer himself, in this play written by George Bernard Shaw. This production is directed by Paul Miller for the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, and runs until 25 June.
update 7 December 2016: Rupert has been nominated as Best Actor for The Philanderer, which has also garnered other nominations, in the Broadway World UK awards. You can vote here!
I went to the first show this evening, after an afternoon with Delacroix at the National Gallery and a three-course meal at Carluccio’s. That took care of body and soul, and the play took care of heart and mind!
Not being familiar with Shaw as a playwright, I was surprised by how witty and wordy it all was. Rupert came out firing on all cylinders; he’s just so good at this kind of clever, persuasive dialogue.
Helen Bradbury (Grace Tranfield) and Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Julia Craven) play the women Charteris is involved with, and do a fine job with two rather different characters. Indeed, the whole cast did a terrific job – and it seems unfair to even think about picking anyone out for special mention, though I have to say that Michael Lumsden (Colonel Craven) made me laugh, and made the most of his character’s various actions and reactions.