Review: John Godber’s The Highwayman at Theatre Royal Wakefield

It’s his first historical drama and is set in 1769’s York when the rich were getting richer and the poor were being left even further behind.

It follows the fortunes and misfortunes of likely lad John Swift who turns to highway robbery and pickpocketing to support his family.

While Swift is fictitious, real-life highwaymen Dick Turpin and John Nevison are referenced - both of whom have strong local connections.

Swift is a decent enough bloke who really wants to do the right thing but is forced by circumstance to break the law. He gets away with his life of crime until he is caught stealing a duck and his past misdemeanours catch up with him.

Emilio Encinoso-Gil is marvellous as the charming Swift. He twinkles and rages and you can’t help but like him whatever wicked things he does.

Matheea Ellerby as his spirited wife Molly is the perfect foil. She is ahead of her time and displays entrepreneurial skills that upset her husband who wants to be able to support her and their two children himself.

Molly presses flowers and starts making scented candles - an idea that Swift finds most amusing and quite baffling - if only he knew!

Act one is a bit on the dry side with few laugh-out-loud lines and the rhyming dialogue is a bit clunky at times. The fractious scenes between Swift and Molly manage to keep things moving along despite this - though they do go on far longer than they should.

As the half-time curtain falls the audience is left in suspense as Swift’s future appears to be decided.

By act two things are much more spirited with witty punchlines that really hit home.

Dylan Allcock and Jo Patmore play multiple characters. Patmore is superb as the pirate queen and her transformation into old crone is a masterclass in improvisation - despite some of the dialogue being a bit difficult to make out.

She also pops up as a jobbing troubadour offering to sing Swift a song - for a coin or two.

Allcock, among other characters, plays the real-life Tate Wilkinson - the actor and manager who took over the York Theatre Royal in 1769 - and hams up his role to great effect.

The set is spartan and props consist only of four wooden boxes – moved around the stage by the cast – and a hangman’s noose.

Wakefield’s Ruby Macintosh wrote the songs and the cast performs them beautifully - particularly when singing the a cappella numbers.

I’ve been a fan of Godber ever since I discovered Bouncers in the early 80s and have seen many but by no means all of his 70 plays. Some I’ve loved, others I’ve liked and a few I’ve not enjoyed at all.

The Highwayman must rank as one of my favourites, which after a career spanning almost 50 years, is a testament to Godber’s immense talent and his flair for tapping into what makes a good night out at the theatre.

There are still a handful of tickets available for tonight’s performance at Theatre Royal Wakefield (Friday, July 4)

www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk/