What might have become of Jane Austen's notorious 'cad' revealed in amazing Chichester show
Being Mr Wickham written and performed by Adrian Lukis at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre until Saturday January 24. Editor In Chief Gary Shipton was in the audience.
There is a word that has rather fallen out of fashion. Raconteur. If you are not familiar with it, it’s someone who tells anecdotes in an amusing and skilful way.
It was brought to mind watching this fabulous one-man show in the Minerva.
Adrian Lukis’s performance is amazingly skilful and amusing. More than that, you feel you are sat there will him in his Georgian rooms as he works his way through a decanter of claret and an hour and ten minutes of anecdotes.
So intimate is the conversation you expect him at any moment to gather up a second glass and hand it to you.
Except these are not anecdotes of his own life.
For he is being that notorious cad in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice George Wickham.
This is Mr Wickham not as Austen drew him but as he might have been if he had ever reached the age of 60.
So in this sublime work, Lukis painstakingly blends all the evidence with a huge pinch of speculation and the generous addition of personal experience of reaching that age milestone.
The result is as fascinating as it is spellbinding.
This is clever, utterly engaging, truly magnificent.
Don’t miss it.
As the conclusion hints, every great story needs a rascal. Every great play requires the same – perfectly delivered in Chichester’s Minerva Theatre.