Walking into Dear Lupin, this week’s Corpus main show, you will be greeted by an innovative stage and some assertively British music. These elements cleverly draw you into a sweetly comic and sad story detailing the letters sent from Roger Mortimer, a stalwart of the British middle class, to Lupin, his dissolute son. Will Hall, playing Mortimer, seems born for the part. He manages to convincingly portray the bourgeois concerns of an aging parent, while delivering with aplomb the dryly humorous lines which coexist with, and undermine, such pettifogging disquiets. Equally, the variety of supporting characters he embodies throughout the show are slickly handled, with amusing use of props. Acting wise, the highlight is certainly Hall’s jokes, which were very well received by the opening-night audience, and which will no doubt, on nights with higher ticket sales, cause the very walls of the Corpus Playroom to resound with laughter.

If Hall’s performance is deserving of the highest praise, so too is the excellent work put in by all members of the production team. The set is cleverly divided into two halves, which are versatile spaces throughout the play, always cleverly placed in contrast with each other. Great use is made of the depth of the Corpus stage, with the Corpus corner and centre stage being flexible spaces in which anything can happen. The costuming, while simple, clearly points to the generational divide between Lupin (played by Joe Sefton) and his father. In the case of Sefton, the passing of time is also cleverly highlighted by his changing outfits.

Sound and light, beyond any other feature in the production, were utterly amazing. Huge praise must go to Chris Lazenbatt for the sourcing of the sounds, which were numerous and varied. These were crucial in giving the play a clear temporal and cultural situation, and their integration into the action of the characters was beautifully done. The collaboration between Lazenbatt on sound, and Zebulon Goriely on lights was fantastic, and the latter should be proud of the highly professional standard of his lighting. This included some stage lights visible on-stage, which contributed greatly to the creation of atmosphere in some of the shorter scenes.

Director Charlie Morrell-Brown did great work with the physicality of the actors. The co-ordination between Sefton and Hall, particularly in those scenes in which the split structure of the set highlighted the inherent separation of their actions, was wonderful. These were moments when the directorial vision really came through via well-rehearsed scenes on behalf of the actors.

Unfortunately, not all of the performance was so well rehearsed. In a two-hander where both characters have such large chunks of dialogue, it is understandable that first night nerves might affect the performers. Hall, certainly, had moments where he stumbled, but in general these were both rare, and well recovered. Sefton, unfortunately, stumbled much more often, and his recoveries were less convincing. His delivery as a whole was a little stilted, and he certainly didn’t handle his jokes as well as Hall.

This is in part a difficulty of the script: Hall’s Mortimer could get away with delivering his lines in a consistent style, as he played an adult man who clearly was quite persuaded by his own vision of himself. However, Sefton’s character underwent a lot more development. I felt that this development, which was quite clear in the lines, was under-served by Sefton’s delivery.  

Overall though, this is an excellent play, and I am glad I had the opportunity to see it. It is funny, endearing and sweet: a fantastic choice for the Corpus Main slot. The effort put in by the production team is admirable, creating results which are among the best I’ve seen in Cambridge, and certainly the best in the Corpus Playroom. As the week goes on, and the actors become more comfortable with their lines, I can only expect this production to go from an enjoyable opening night to the phenomenal heights it deserves to reach.

Dear Lupin is on in the Corpus Playroom at 7pm from 30th January to 3rd February