IT’S NOT A HABIT OF MINE TO LEAVE A PLAY ABOUT INFIDELITY FEELING UPLIFTED, BUT I ACTUALLY FELT EMPOWERED

By Ruth Thompson | @ruth.thompson_ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Press Invite

A cheating husband, a scandalised social circle, and a wife who refuses to play the victim — The Constant Wife turns a comedy into a surprisingly empowering night at the theatre.

Prior to London’s West End debut, The Constant Wife is playing at the Richmond Theatre to an eager audience. A Royal Shakespeare Company production, The Constant Wife by Laura Wade, is based on the comedy by W Somerset Maugham.

Set in 1927, the comedy follows Constance, a wife and mother whose husband John just happens to be having an affair with her best friend. We witness the people in her life and the ones at the centre of the betrayal react as the scandal becomes known to them all.

We see the stark differences between Constance’s mother, with an old-fashioned notion that a wife is to get on and not make a fuss, and her other daughter, Martha, who is set on being an independent woman, not to be jilted by the actions of men. A mother who delivers such iconic lines such as “Nonsense. She eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she’s losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances.”

The play doesn’t take itself too seriously, seen in the actors nearly catching the play ‘The Constant Wife’ but being held up by the drama unfolding. However it never becomes silly or over the top, it’s the perfect level of wit and humour but draws you in for moments where you’d like to knock some sense into her ‘devoted’ husband and his over dramatic mistress Marie-Louise.

The set design was beautiful with plenty of elements for characters to lie, fawn and angrily stew on top of. A great feature was a mesh entry way so you could see which character was going to enter and add to the ongoing drama next.

I throughly enjoyed this production and can say it’s not a habit of mine to leave a play about infidelity feeling uplifted but by the end of The Constant Wife I actually felt empowered. Unlike many plays of its kind the women are strong willed and powerful. All in different ways but all knowing exactly who they are and what they want, not allowing others to sway their own hearts and minds. The play doesn’t end with a wife accepting her lot and planning to ignore her husband’s cheating, but one with confidence, cunning and yet still hope for the future.

If you love the witty one liners from the work of Oscar Wilde or the intimate relationship drama of plays like Private Lives, you’ll love The Constant Wife.

The Constant Wife is running at the Richmond Theatre until Saturday 14 February.

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Photo Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic