In this adroit stage version of A Room With A View, adapter Simon Reade has given prominence to the sheer fun Forster had in mocking the stifling conventions of upper-middle-class Edwardian society. This is a warm-hearted production, and that warmth is emphasised in designer Paul Wills’ clever use of scenic back projections, soft-focused and full of colour.  These glimpses of beautiful open countryside are often shut away behind a wall of tall, louvered shutters, their rigid geometry echoing the strict rules of so-called respectability within which so many of the characters are hopelessly trapped.

One such character is Lucy Honeychurch, a young woman who is visiting Italy under the watchful eye of her chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett. While staying at a pensione in Florence they find themselves in a room that looks out on a courtyard.  Some fellow guests who have a room with a view offer a swap. This would seem to be a straightforward display of generosity, but the gentleman and his young son who have made the offer are of a lower class, and Charlotte makes it very clear to Lucy that this poses enormous problems regarding etiquette. For Charlotte, the minutiae of such social niceties are of tremendous importance.  Felicity Kendal plays her as a spinster who makes a great fuss about such trivia because her life is otherwise entirely empty.  She has to live vicariously, through gossiping and by interfering in the lives of others.  We could see her as being merely an unpleasant, embittered busybody, but Kendal’s performance artfully hints that Charlotte has experienced something of real life in the past, and though her over-dramatic concerns about decorum are infuriating, they are comically so, and we do not dislike her. This is a star turn that will not disappoint her many fans. Lauren Coe makes her UK touring debut as Lucy, conveying an endearing mix of intelligence and naivety with great charm. Lucy has not yet discovered her true self, and her passionate nature is initially revealed only in her spirited piano playing. This is a society where appearances are far more important than reality, and where it can be very dangerous to express a true opinion or emotion.   One character seemingly oblivious to these dangers is Mr Emerson, the gentleman who offered the exchange of rooms. He makes no bones about his lack of patience with conventional social norms, and his forthright honesty offends almost all those that he meets.  He represents a future where men and women are equal and where love of fellow man transcends all social boundaries.  He is a true revolutionary, and Jeff Rawle plays him as an earnest, uncompromising embodiment of Forster’s mantra ‘only connect’, a man convinced that love conquers all. Emerson’s son George is at first very quiet and rather tortured by mysteriously unexpressed feelings. As played by Tom Morley he is at first a little wet – I would have liked a darker, more brooding interpretation. But when George finally opens up he becomes much more appealing, and we can see why Lucy has fallen for him.

Other characters are given comic, broad brush portraits.  Joanne Pearce is very funny as Eleanor Lavish, the chain-smoking novelist who patronises her ‘inferiors’ and who romanticises poverty while deluding herself that she is some kind of enlightened democrat.  Charlie Anson is Cecil Vyse, the wealthy aesthete who becomes engaged to Lucy.  He is outrageously pompous and proprietorial in his attitude to Lucy, seeing it his duty to educate her in all matters of importance. Anson’s preening performance is a delight. Buttoned-up in his spats, Vyse knows everything about art but nothing about women.  His appallingly clumsy first attempt to kiss Lucy, which occurs after their engagement is announced, symbolises his total unsuitability as a husband for this feisty young woman.   But he is no villain, and when Lucy sees the light and dumps him, his belated realisation of his failings is both comic and rather touching.

Adrian Noble has directed A Room With A View with characteristic panache. There are fluid changes of scene, and the story unfolds rapidly.  This is a light-footed production, brimming with invention.  I particularly liked the stylistically choreographed street scenes.  Noble has opted for a light touch wherever possible, and even the deadly street fight that Lucy witnesses is conveyed with balletic grace.  This is an interpretation of A Room With A View that does not dwell too long on the more serious aspects of the huge cultural and political shifts that were gathering strength in Edwardian society. For many the most memorable scene will be the joyously silly sequence involving a naked romp in a pool.  A Room With A View is Forster’s sunniest and most optimistic novel, and it is those qualities that shine through in this highly enjoyable production.   ★★★★☆   Mike Whitton    6^th October 2016

Production photo by Nobby Clark