Restoration comedies need restoring, and, contrary to what their name might imply, Braindead Theatre Company have made some very intelligent choices here. Judicious cuts have trimmed the production to a tight hour without doing much damage to Etheridge's plot or the sharp wit of his English.This 1676 creation is a high-society comedy of jealousy and seduction. It pivots around love-rat Dorimant and his companion, who make their way through the affections and jealousies of the town beauties while trying to frustrate the extravagant and ridiculous Sir Fopling Flutter. The play has been transposed to New Romantic 1980s clubland, which provides surprisingly tight fits for restoration stereotypes such as the fop (Adam and the Ants) and the rake (Spandau Ballet) as well as a rich outlet for the play's obsession with fashion.Every 80s archetype gets an airing here: the punk, the goth, the Blondie clone and the secret sixth member of Duran Duran. The extremity and variety of costume leans towards the cartoonish – but since a collection of cartoons is precisely what Etheridge's characters are, the overwrought style is wholly appropriate.As you might expect given the show's pop-centric inspiration, the soundtrack has an important role to play. While the whiff of the compilation CD hangs faintly around the sound desk, the songs are a quick way to nail the setting, and are often well contextualised. Having Sir Fopling Flutter rubbishly sing a song by Adam and the Ants (upon whose dress sense he is very clearly modelled) was a neatly self-referential nugget.The company also manage to bring out a lot of comic moments, covering a wide spectrum of funny from Sir Fopling's ridiculous noises to Dorimant's slick wit. The unsurprisingly sparse first-night audience (there were three of us) got in the way of widespread laughter, but as crowds get bigger this aspect will improve.You could be forgiven for being nervous about amateur adaptations of Restoration drama - there's so much potential for disappointment. But there's no need to be nervous about Braindead's offering, which is as sharp as a yuppie's suit and as strident as a Ziggy Stardust hairdo.
