She Stoops to Conquer, National Theatre Live @TynesideCinema
Wanted: a period dance consultant,
An etiquette expert, a frill manager,
For this lambent comedy of manners:
Precision & grace to be resultant.
We also seek: actors possessing the guile
To play lightly with broadness, it’s true,
We want you within the lines: we’re going to
Follow the rules, follow the rules in style.
This to serve our text, Goldsmith’s clear concern
To present formalized politeness framed by
Big-hearted optimism, an elation
Of niceness is the aim, not Jane Austen
Or Wycherley’s slight shadows (deriving
& derived); we balm an anxious nation.
