As warming as a glass of the best malt wine, Arthur Wing Pinero's whimsical comedy is a convivial romp through the drawing rooms and drinking dens of Victorian London. Indeed, Pinero's socially conscious late 19th-century plays brought credibility to the farce as a genre in England, and he was soon championed by the other great dramatist of his era, George Bernard Shaw.
Gently exposing the hypocrisy behind the well-upholstered manners and morals of the upper middle-class, The Magistrate follows the misfortunes of the Posket family in a tale of much dissembling. Having deceived her second husband - Aeneas, the magistrate - about her age, Agatha Posket has had to corroborate her story by telling him that her son, Cis, from her previous marriage, is 14 when he is actually 19. And when this secret is threatened by the appearance of the boy's godfather, Colonel Lukyn, Agatha is drawn further into mischievous plotting.
Helen Atkinson Wood has great fun as the ostentatious and manipulative Mrs Posket, worrying her skirts with melodramatic gestures, or scheming with an affected determination. Dominic Hecht as the son who has inherited his mother's love of frolics is equally impressive. In breeches one moment and in gentleman's evening dress the next, he dashes hither and thither with a fruity petulance that can not be placated. He runs his poor step-father ragged, and Richard O'Callaghan gives a painstakingly funny performance as the magistrate trying to preserve the honourable institutions of family and law.
Designed by Robert Jones, the attractive sets switch from the quiet green decor of the drawing room to the strikingly dark and decadent red of the gentleman's club, and from there to the black-painted wooden austerity of the court offices. In between, there are well-worked street scenes across a black cobbled floor, and you really do get a sense of Victorian London in a play that name-checks many of the capital's streets and districts.
Greg Hersov's lavish production scours every pun and misunderstanding for laughs, and there are excellent performances from the supporting cast. Russell Dixon is very funny as the by turns ebullient and wittering Colonel Lukyn, and he develops an amusing rapport with Simon Treves as the broken-hearted Captain Vale, whose melancholy knows no bounds. Indeed, every member of the beautifully-costumed, 16-strong cast adds to the fun.
Although two and a half hours may be a little long for a top-hat-and-bonnet farce, it is the season of self-indulgence - so why not go see?
Until January 27. Box office: 0161-833 9833.
