The Independent, July 27, 1991, by Paul Taylor.
"Polite Russians; Paul Taylor on Makarova in Tovarich at 
Chichester"
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The Russian Revolution gave a new twist to the servant 
problem. With the dispersal of the Tsarist aristocracy, who 
needed jobs when their jewels ran out, there was always the 
chance that you'd end up with a better class menial than you 
had quite bargained for. As the programme at Chichester 
indicates, emigre toffs became stable boys, chauffeurs, taxi 
drivers. The dustbins at Cannes, it seems, were at one time 
emptied by Tatler-reading Russian colonels. 

This idea - that there could be some romantically reduced 
Romanov lurking among the people who catered for your needs 
- had a strong fantasy appeal, a fact not overlooked by 
Hollywood. It probably also accounts for the earlier 
manifestations of Jacques Deval's "Tovarich" which began 
life in 1934 as a play, became a film with Claudette Colbert 
and a Broadway musical with Vivien Leigh, and now resurfaces 
on the stage at Chichester in a new translation starring the 
Russian ballerina, Natalia Makarova. 

Set in Paris, the comedy focuses on two destitute nobles, 
the Grand Duchess Tatiana (played by Makarova), niece to the 
late Tsar and her husband Prince Mikhail (Robert Powell in 
fine form), who was his aide de camp. To keep body and soul 
together, the Grand Duchess has taken to a little genteel 
shoplifting, but we know she's a decent sort because when 
she hears there's a hungry, breastfeeding mother in a 
neighbouring room, she doesn't flinch from sacrificing the 
champagne and caviar. Because Mikhail won't touch the four 
billion francs entrusted to him by the tsar, the pair are 
forced to take incognito employment as a butler and maid in 
the house of Arbeziat, a nouveau riche deputy minister. 

Patrick Garland's attractively acted production makes the 
most of the resulting jokes, which spring from fairly 
snobbish resources. The social superiority of servant to 
boss keeps popping out ("the maid's" idea of a big emerald 
is of course bigger than madame's) and the aristos 
effortlessly outclass the bourgeoise at poker, swordplay, 
coping with creditors etc, while behaving towards them with 
a grave, almost parodic deference. Though squeamish at first 
about some of their habits (such as the Russian "kiss of 
forgiveness"), minister and family are soon absolutely 
smitten by their charms. "They're priceless" Arbeziat tells 
the audience, as if we needed reminding. 

It's brainless but likeably played (especially by Rowland 
Davies and Sarah Badel as the Arbeziats) and Makarova 
compensates for her verbal stumblings with a magnetic, 
dignified stage presence. (In a beautifully absurd image at 
the end, she is seen in full diamond- dripping imperial 
dress about to put the milk bottles out). 

Deval makes a tactical error, however, in trying to 
introduce bits of harsh reality into this pile of romantic 
froth. The Arbeziats give a dinner party for the Bolshevik 
commissar for oil (Tony Britton) who needs (what else?) four 
billion francs to save the people of the Ukraine and the 
Urals. To secure this sum, he may have to sell off precious 
oil fields. The trouble is that he also happens to be the 
man who raped Tatiana and, in Lubianka, tortured Mikhail. 
They come face to face with their enemy in a scene where 
they have to serve him drinks. He contrives to insult them 
while the Arbeziats, who have just discovered the true rank 
of their employees, suffer convulsions of embarrassment in 
being waited on at all. 

But except by sudden maldroit jumps from the jokey to the 
grim and back again, the ghastly past of the Russian couple 
cannot be accommodated by the play, nor is it sufficiently 
believable that, even to save the country, they would hand 
over the tsar's money to their erstwhile oppressor. Tonally, 
"Tovarich" becomes uneasy, though not in a thought-provoking 
way. Quick references to eyes being gouged out and brains 
being thrown to the dogs seem as incongruous here as cyanide 
pellets in a Pavlova. 

Continues at Chichester (0243 781312). 



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