Review: Three Men In A Boat (Rose Theatre)

Review by Rebecca Clifton

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

J. K. Jerome’s famous humorous novel Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) followed Jerome’s boating holiday up the Thames as he and his friends travel from Kingston to Oxford, so it feels fitting that this new production of the story is being hosted in Kingston’s Rose Theatre. In Jerome’s foreword to his novel, he declares he “did not intend to write a funny book at first”, with the original intention of writing a serious travel guide. The same cannot be said of this self-protested ‘riotous new comedy’, with silliness and nonsense seeping out of almost every sentence. 

From the start, we know things are going to go awry. The stage is framed with tilting borders as though it is beginning to sink into the water, a backcloth depicting an idyllic watercolour of the Thames peels at the seams, and it even has the ominous swans lurking in the foreground. The scene is peaceful, but for those who know the novel, this seemingly tranquil swan is an omen of the chaos to come. 

Three Men In A Boat begins lost in the maze at Hampton Court Palace- disoriented, confused and frustrated. These are emotions our characters carry with them throughout the play. Writer Al Smith admitted the structure from the novel needed some “narrative re-jigging” and his logic is sound. Smith adds purpose to the journey, and characters are given arcs which trundle the plot along. Smith also adds some needed sombre moments with two plot propellers that are not in the novel, as Smith tinkers with the narrative. The best alteration he makes in his adaptation is foregoing the many anecdotal characters from the various tales. We still get the story of the trout, the stinking cheese, the hypochondria and so on. But instead of side characters telling these, all the stories are attributed to one of the core players. This keeps the plot streamlined and doesn’t overcomplicate the stage. We can focus on our three men in a boat… not to mention the dog. 

Christopher Haydon’s direction leans towards the whimsy, and it feels as though we are watching a vaudeville show. Songs by Grant Olding are for the most part performed on the apron with the curtain drawn, leaning into the vaudeville play style of the performance. It doesn’t feel like a musical, since the songs punctuate scenes, hardly ever moving the plot along, instead being mostly used to draw a close to a particular anecdote. Haydon’s direction makes the performance feel more like a variety show as our characters lead us through songs, sketches, dances, and animal performances. 

Jerome (Jonny Weldon) is a self-indulgent and eccentric mummy’s boy: a struggling writer and a self-aggrandising layabout. Weldon’s performance is the perfect balance between lovable waif and insufferable rogue. George (Richard David-Caine) is Jerome’s opposite in many ways, patient, intelligent and empathetic. George is our emotional tugboat pulling us through the plot. Having recently lost his wife, he gets the most tender moments, but that doesn’t mean George isn’t completely wild and unruly like the others. David-Caine gets to explore the widest range of character; from silly to sensitive, his performance has it all. Harris (Bronté Barbé) is our soon-to-be-married bumbling bachelor. Barbé is a wonderful comic actor, and in a character that could be interpreted as one-dimensional, she finds many peaks and troughs to explore, adding a lot of charm to the performance.  

We’ve discussed the three men; now it’s time for the dog, Montmorency. Calum Donald-Bruce is Montmorency’s puppeteer, and the audience falls in love with his animation of Monty instantly. Puppet Maker, Charlie Tymms, has created a beautiful fox terrier from scraps of tartan fabric. Monty is a lovable scamp, and Tymms’ design is perfect. Monty is a character in his own right, constantly causing chaos. In the novel, Jerome added the character of a dog because he said they represent the “inner consciousness which, in all Englishmen, contains an element of the dog.” Haydon’s Monty certainly mirrors back the inner consciousness of our three men, in their stubborn and priggish behaviour. This is shown moreover when, in a hallucinogenic moment (concerning the dreaded cheese), Monty offers his philosophical musings to George. 

Three Men in a Boat is full of mischief and eccentricity. Who would expect that a relaxing journey along the river could be so loud or laden with havoc? For the most part, we are sucked into the whirlwind with joy. However, at times the tornado of turmoil is a little too tiresome, and a few scenes could be trimmed to prevent the performance from becoming stagnant.   

Three Men in a Boat plays at Rose Theatre until 10 October. Tickets from https://allthatdazzles.londontheatredirect.com/play/three-men-in-a-boat-tickets

Photos by Helen Murray