Eduardo De Filippo’s classic comedy Filumena at Bath’s Theatre Royal this week often flatters to deceive.
Felicity Kendal and Matthew Kelly go head-to-head in the 1946 Neapolitan comedy but it lacks the comic humour or slapstick action to be a production that has you laughing uproariously in your seat.
A long first act sees Kendal in the title role of Filumena Marturano jousting with Kelly as Don Domenico Soriano, with Julie Legrand, who hails from Bath, as their housekeeper Rosalia Solimene.
Directed by Sean Mathias, the English version of Filumena is by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, the action is set in the balmy heat of Naples.
In a battle of wills between all involved, Filumena mixes Eduardo De Filippo’s charm and optimism with acerbic wit and a moral examination of how where we come from can define who we become.
The curtain opens on Domenico Soriano, a wealthy Neapolitan shopkeeper raging against Filumena, a former prostitute with whom he has lived for 35 years.
Now, when he was intending to marry the younger Diana, played coquettishly by Jodie Steele, Filumena has tricked him into marrying her instead.
She has pretended to be dying, and so coaxed him into a marriage with him believing it would not last long. But as soon as they were married she has sprung up from her bed to banish Diana, whom Domenico had disguised as a nurse to have her nearby.
The comedy is full of entanglement and intrigue, as the couple trade threats, insults and recriminations, and questions the family ties that bind us and whether we can ever escape our past.
Kelly commands the stage, full of indignant rage, while Kendal watches in silence, but then says he has treated her as his workhorse while he goes off racing his thoroughbreds.
As the verbal sparring continues Filumena reveals her reason for wanting to be Dom Domenico's wife: she wants him to legitimise her three sons Umberto (Gavin Fowler), Michele (George Banks) and Riccardo (Fabrizio Santino) who have grown up having no idea of who their mother is.
Dom Domenico is not going to have any of this and briefs his lawyer Nocella (Ben Nealon) to have the marriage declared null and void.
When the lawyer explains to Filumena that he'll easily win the case, she accepts the failure of her ruse but tells Domenico that one of the three young men is actually his child, then leaves him.
Ten months later, with all his attempts to find out which of the three young men is his son having failed, Domenico remarries Filumena, accepting all three as his sons.
The 12-strong cast is completed by Sarah Twomey as Lucia. Jamie Hogarth as Alfredo, Lee Peck as Waiter, and Hilary Tones as Teresina.
Filumena is a play about relationships being put to the test, using an English version written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, but it somehow falls short of being a comedy that lingers long in the mind after leaving the theatre.
Filumena is produced by Bill Kenwright Ltd and Theatre Royal Windsor, directed by Sean Mathias, and the set is a splendidly large dining room with elegant windows designed by Morgan Large, with lighting design by Nick Richings.
In the play, Filumena memorably tells Domenico that "children are children, and they're all equal". It’s a worthy message that all parents should take to heart.
The production tours to the Theatre Royal Bath to Saturday, November 16. To book tickets contact the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 or visit theatreroyal.org.uk
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