Year: 1980
Title of the play: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Author: Charles Dickens, Adapted by David Edgar
Director: Trevor Nunn and John Caird
Others in the Cast: Roger Rees, Emily Richard, Jane Downs, Hubert Rees, John Woodvine, David Threlfall
Company/Event: Royal Shakespeare Company
Theatre and location: Aldwych Theatre, London
Other productions of the same play: 1981: Plymouth Theatre,
Plot summary:
Peth’s role: Newman Noggs; Hawk’s Rival
Reviews:
I don't know which of ''Nicholas Nickleby's'' two
directors, Trevor Nunn or John Caird, decided that the thing to do with
Newman Noggs was to pretend he wasn't there, but whoever may have opted
for the fellow's virtual invisibility was absolutely, unarguably right.
Brushing Noggs in as though he were the most dismissible of supers,
refusing to stress his presence or to underline the fact that he is
carefully observing every fateful step the plot takes, makes the whole
thing twice as much fun for those of us out front. It gives us the deep
pleasure of locating Noggs for ourselves, and then of warmly
congratulating ourselves for having picked him out so early. You
see, Newman Noggs - who is a meek and matter-of-fact clerk in the
offices of Nicholas's reprehensible Uncle Ralph - is of vast importance
to everything that is finally going to happen. He is, as it turns out,
impromptu guardian angel to the whole Nickleby clan - it's all he can
do to keep those Nicklebys out of trouble - but that is pretty much his
secret in the earlier stages of the game. Walter Kerr, New York Times, November 26, 1981
As
the tipsy clerk Newman Noggs, a fallen gentleman afraid of his own every move,
Edward Petherbridge elevates a comic type with rending poetry. - Frank Rich, New York Times, October 5, 1981
Production details:
London 1980
Related links:
Also, if you can find it, take a peek at the poem “On The Actor Edward Petherbridge” by Mary Kinzie in Summers of Vietnam and Other Poems. Extract: “In 'Nicholas Nickleby' that dark place of bodies and bodily gloom, He seemed the source of light”…
A little sidebar on EP’s use of the word “cudulles” in the movie:
Gallery:
EP
as Newman Noggs with his lovely wife Emily Richard as Kate Nickleby. Screenshots from the TV version (extract on Youtube)
