Fortune's Fool, The Old Vic

A Russian brand of comedy comes to the London stage as Ivan Turgenev’s rarely performed Fortune’s Fool  opens at the Old Vic this winter. 

This 19th century satire sees a pair of newlyweds arrive at their country estate, where a little too much champagne leads to a shocking revelation and far-reaching consequences.

Director Lucy Bailey is no stranger to Russian theatre, having directed Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Print Room in 2012 (also adapted by Fortune’s Fool’s Mike Poulton).  The title role was taken by Ian Glen , who stars in Fortune’s Fool as Tropatchov, the wealthy neighbour. We know him best, however, for setting hearts aflutter both as the ruthless Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey and the gallant Ser Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones. Starring alongside Glen is Richard McCabe, who won a well-deserved Olivier award earlier this year for his heartbreaking portray of Harold Wilson in The Audience opposite Helen Mirren.

We think that Bailey’s experience an associate director at the RSC will hold her in good stead here. Michael Billington chastised her Uncle Vanya for going ‘over the top’, but a little bit of Shakespearean theatricality can really drag out the most comic aspects of Russian satire: it often requires some physicality to actually be laugh-out-loud funny. 

Following on from Mark Rylance’s somewhat lacklustre Much Ado About Nothing , the Old Vic will be looking for Fortune’s Fool to be a comedy for Christmas, full of energy and exuberance, and it promises to deliver exactly that.  Last time this play was performed on Broadway in 2002, both of the lead actors won Tony awards. Glen and McCabe must be waiting with bated breath.