Habeaus Corpus at the Menier Chocolate Factory

‘This revival can’t help but resemble a middling 1970s sitcom’: HABEAS CORPUS – Menier Chocolate Factory

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Menier Chocolate Factory, London – until 27 February 2022

The Menier Chocolate Factory know exactly what they’re doing when they lead with the tagline ‘a filthy farce from a less enlightened age’. If that type of comedy is your thing, then come darken our doors and escape the woke crowd… Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus dates from 1973 and nothing about Patrick Marber’s admittedly stylish production here can hide that fact.

Despite the quality of Bennett’s writing being fitfully evident with some really witty stuff, the major issue with the play lies in its uncertainty of form. It pushes towards farce but without any of that genre’s intricate cleverness and so can’t help but resemble a middling 1970s sitcom, with a base level of humour that even the most end-of-the-pier comic might have decided to leave in the dressing room.

The play flits around a GP who lives in Hove, who is far more interested in women than in his patients, a lasciviousness reflected by most of the men in what I guess longs to be called a sex comedy. So there’s tons of boob jokes. And because that’s the mentality, there’s fat jokes too. But as the theatre around you chortles, you can’t help but feel people are laughing with the misogyny and fat-phobia rather than at it.

There’s an archness to the whole proceeding which could been Bennett’s ironic take on it all but if that’s the intention it is lost in all the smut here. The cast give it their mugging all but I found it unbearable. The production does however look gorgeous, thanks to Richard Howell’s punchy lighting design providing some powerful imagery. Don’t you love farce? Not like this I don’t.

Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes (with interval)
Photos: Manuel Harlan
Habeus Corpus is booking at the Menier Chocolate Factory until 26th February

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‘This revival can’t help but resemble a middling 1970s sitcom’: While @OughtToBeClowns admires the stylish design, he largely finds #HabeusCorpus at @MenChocFactory ‘unbearable’. #theatrereviews #LondonTheatre

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Ian Foster
Since 2003, Ian Foster has been writing reviews of plays, sometimes with a critical element, on his blog Ought to Be Clowns, which has been listed as one of the UK's Top Ten Theatre Blogs by Lastminute.com, Vuelio and Superbreak. He averages more than 350+ shows a year. He says: "Call me a reviewer, a critic or a blogger, and you will apparently put someone or other's nose out of joint! So take it or leave it, essentially this is my theatrical diary, recording everything I go to see at the theatre in London and beyond, and venturing a little into the worlds of music and film/TV where theatrical connections can be made."
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Ian Foster on FacebookIan Foster on RssIan Foster on Twitter
Ian Foster
Since 2003, Ian Foster has been writing reviews of plays, sometimes with a critical element, on his blog Ought to Be Clowns, which has been listed as one of the UK's Top Ten Theatre Blogs by Lastminute.com, Vuelio and Superbreak. He averages more than 350+ shows a year. He says: "Call me a reviewer, a critic or a blogger, and you will apparently put someone or other's nose out of joint! So take it or leave it, essentially this is my theatrical diary, recording everything I go to see at the theatre in London and beyond, and venturing a little into the worlds of music and film/TV where theatrical connections can be made."

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