Legal Fictions
by John Mortimer

Legal Fictions Fans of Rumpole of the Bailey will delight in this comedic double-bill - Legal Fictions. We are presented with two plays, both of which were penned by John Mortimer, creator of Rumpole, The first is a two-hander called Dock Brief and the second a three-hander, simply titled Edwin. Edward Fox stars in both one-act plays, taking on an enormous task. He realistically portrays a bumbling, aging barrister in Dock Brief and a cantankerous, retired judge in Edwin. It would have been nice to see him have the opportunity to play more contrasting characters because both were quite similar and there were a few too many ‘plumbs’ in his mouth with regards to his accent, which made it difficult at times to understand what was being said. Despite this he did a sterling job. Nicholas Woodeson, on the other hand, performed a huge range of characters, playing a man up for murdering his wife in Dock Brief, who acts out Judge, jury, and the witnesses as Fox works out his defence. In the second play, Edwin, he is Tom, a family friend, of whom Fox’s character is extremely suspicious. Woodeson gave a strong performance in both acts. In Edwin, which reminded me of Waiting for Godot, Fox and Woodeson were joined by Polly Adams who gave a charming performance as Margaret, the retired Judge’s delightfully upbeat and long suffering wife. Not particularly a show for younger theatre-goers, it was clearly a huge hit with the more mature audience. The production certainly demonstrated the flexibility of the Malvern Theatre’s Mainhouse, as it was dramatically changed from being an imposing prison cell in Act 1 to a quintessential English country garden in Act 2. Hats off to the designer, Mark Bailey.

Robert Holcroft, BBC Hereford and Worcester