I must admit that the technical elements of this show were really impressive. As the director was keen to point out in his programme notes, there were budgeting issues, but even so the Costume Designer, Rian Matanky-Becker, and Set Designer, Paula Petkova, did a fantastic job. The costumes were stunning, and the props and set created an elegant atmosphere for this play.

However, the professional attitudes obvious in the costuming and set design were less noticeable in the performances themselves. The first scene between Aleceste and Philinte dragged a lot, as did many moments in the play when only two characters were on stage. This was perhaps partly due to the limitations of the script which, being in rhyming couplets throughout, really posed a challenge to any actor trying to convey a sense of real emotion. Even bearing that in mind, the actors often failed to express any real sense of expression at all, sounding more as though they were reciting their lines by rote than portraying characters.

There were some high points. Rupert Mercer’s extraordinarily overwrought poetry recital near the start was a refreshing mood-lift after the lacklustre opening, whilst Kieran Corcoran’s appearance as the clumsy and inept DuBois was again highly entertaining. However, this piece of quick-fire slapstick seemed to have been shoe-horned into a play that otherwise tried to revolve around the comedy of words and the intellect, and as such was more than a little out of place, even if very enjoyable.

There were three actors I’d really like to praise, though. First of all, the double act of Acaste and Clitandre, played by Alex Macketh and Nick Melgaard, had some of the most exciting scenes, really raising the level of the play as a whole. Their relationship was played out in a fascinatingly superficial, self-mocking manner, and raised many laughs from the audience. Melgaard’s restrained flamboyancy and camp acting were very humorous, although perhaps straying towards the clichéd at times. Considering that this is his first full-length play in Cambridge however, that’s no great criticism.

As well as those two, Rosalie Hayes as Eliante was coldly elegant, and very watchable. Although she was sadly not onstage for very long, her performance was perfectly pitched, and subtle, unlike many others in this production.

The portrayal of superficial, gossipy high society was spot on, although Alceste really didn’t seem to be that much different from the others around him, which seemed to slightly defeat the point of the play. But in all, there were some real high points to this show (especially the costumes and set) but it didn’t really live up to those standards the rest of the time.