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Debauched life of a
Man of Mode
MAN OF MODE
National Theatre by ILLTYD HARRINGTON
GEORGE Etherege wrote the Man of Mode in 1676, four years before Charles II, the Merry Monarch, died.
His London is ripe with lust, greed, and political chicanery and in-built deceit.
Nicholas Hytner, the NT’s director has modernised it. And it seems more relevant in 2007 when the Seven Deadly Sins are practiced more than the Ten Commandments.
Dorimant, the key character, is based on Etherege’s friend – the notorious debauchee the Earl of Rochester who died aged 33 from drink, drugs and sex.
Tom Hardy – he of Band of Brothers and the Virgin Queen – is Dorimant, who fills his days either rejecting or pursuing to enter matrimony with the right bride.
Dorimant links the history of the other and reflects their emptiness, but handles the three-hour event with cynical and sharp comment.
The Man of Mode is Rory Kinnear, who arrives from Paris with a five-man acrobatic team.
Their undermining life of booze, girls and irresponsibility lacks substance and he and Dorimant know it. Today the most expensive psychiatrists would say they have embedded sadness.
All in all a valid and honest update after 300 years with uncomfortable parallels – all that’s missing is the special corruption squad of Scotland Yard on the beat in Westminster village.
020 7472 3000
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