HOBSON’S CHOICE
By Harold Brighouse
Vaudeville Theatre, Strand, London
This northern comedy, first performed in the war year of 1916, has just finished in London, having played to packed audiences almost every night.
Starring Martin Shaw (Inspector George Gently, Judge John Deed, etc.) as the cantankerous and bibulous proprietor of Hobson’s shoe shop in late 19th-century Salford, it does not have the kind of storyline that one might have thought would appeal to modern audiences.
The feisty daughter
One of the main themes of the play unfolds through the choices of the eldest and feistiest of Hobson’s three daughters – Maggie, played by the marvellous Naomi Fredericks. She bamboozles the shy and anxious bootmaker Will Mossop (played by Bryan Dick, who some will remember from the film Master & Commander) into marrying her and proceeds to educate and bring out all that is best in him, making him a fearless and prosperous man of business.
Making of a family
Contrary to the prevailing tide in modern society, strong-willed women do not have to give themselves to destructive rivalry with the opposite sex. In fact a strong-willed woman can be the making of a husband for the good of a whole family and beyond. It shows another angle on the idea of ‘a suitable helper’ (Genesis 2.18).
