VANITY FAIR Independent Theatre Odeon Theatre Until 21 Nov 2009 Review by Jamie Wright Based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel, ‘Vanity Fair’ is the story of the ambitious Rebecca‘Becky’ Sharp – a conniving social climber born of low station but possessed of lofty ambitions – andthose upon whose lives she wreaks havoc. The action takes place in various parts of Regency Englandand Europe between 1813 and 1833, and encompasses the Napoleonic wars. This production, however, is anything but a slow-moving period piece or formal costume drama; instead,the story is told in an energetic, non-stop fashion by an ensemble cast in bright motley, with all but oneplaying numerous characters, all with a carnival motif. Director Rob Croser has undertaken the Herculean task of adapting the sizeable novel for the stage andhas done a superb job of both distilling the story and orchestrating the action in such a way thatcaptures the events, characters and Thackeray’s biting social commentary and acid wit and presentsthem in an innovative and thoroughly entertaining fashion. Anna Steen shines as the manipulative, determined and amoral Becky. David Roach alternates accentsand is excellent in his seven characters – though he struggled with his lines and cues on more than oneoccasion. Peta Long is fragile and luminous as the long-suffering Amelia and hilarious as Lady Crawley. Kathryn Fisher’s range isn’t stretched as far, yet she is spot-on as several acid-tongued characters –particularly the interfering Lady Bute Crawley. Oliver de Rohan evokes laughter as the bonnet-clad VioletCrawley and young Georgy and switches effectively to play the meddling, self-absorbed George Osborn.Michael Pole wears both George IV’s crown and Napoleon’s bicorne hat but it is as the corpulent buffoonJoseph ‘Jos’ Sedley that he excels. Completing the ensemble are Myra Waddell, Stephanie Savio, Luke Dean, Allen Munn and ShedrickYarkpai, who all give solid performances as their often very dissimilar cross-section of characters –though Yarkpai’s accent sometimes makes him hard to understand. The vibrant costuming was especially well-done as it was used primarily to differentiate between thevarious characters. Sound was minimal but effective when used, and the set – arranged with circus-styleplatforms to provide levels – allowed for the rapid switching between ‘scenes’ when combined withlighting; however, the number of lighting changes did not match the number of scenes, leaving someless distinct than others. Overall, though, what makes this somewhat unorthodox production work – and work exceedingly well –is the focus on keeping the action flowing through a dynamic script tying otherwise unrelated scenestogether with narration and hilarious, witty asides which capture the social commentary aspects ofThackeray’s novel. In the hands of a director like Croser and a talented ensemble cast of this calibre, this is a must-see forfans of the novel and anyone keen on clever, wordy theatre delivered in a captivating fashion.