CAPSULE REVIEW : ‘Lettice and Lovage’ Makes for a Merry Evening

Fustian House in Wiltshire is the dullest stately home in England. Nothing interesting has happened there for the last 400 years. So what is a poor tour guide to do?

Make up an interesting history for the old place, says Lettice Douffet, a lady as eccentric and exotic as her name. Her embellishments set in motion “Lettice and Lovage,” Peter Shaffer’s enormously entertaining comedy about the unlikely friendship between two very different women.

And when the women are played by such accomplished actresses as Maggie Smith as the over-imaginative tour guide and Margaret Tyzack as her frustrated boss, it makes for a merry evening indeed.

“Lettice and Lovage,” a big London hit, opened Sunday night at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theater, where the play should run for as long as Smith wants to do it.

Tyzack is a worthy foil for the extravagant Smith. Bette Henritze also scores as Lotte’s dithering secretary. But there’s no doubt that “Lettice and Lovage” really belongs to Smith, and she revels in its glorious excesses. It’s a perfect marriage of star and story.

What other critics said:

Frank Rich, New York Times: “This is idiosyncratic theater acting of a high and endangered order, not to be confused with the actress’ tightly minimalistic film work. If ‘Lettice and Lovage’ is but a modest excuse for it, what theater lover needs any excuse whatsoever to have a rare reunion with Maggie Smith?”

Howard Kissel, Daily News: “At heart, the play is a celebration of the imagination . . . . With these celebrants, there’s great cause for rejoicing.”

Clive Barnes, New York Post: “This is no mere one-woman triumph. Playwright Peter Shaffer and his director, Michael Blakemore, have conspired with actresses, the ebulliently bewitching Smith and a queen of more stately necromancy, Margaret Tyzack, to produce an evening of enchantment and delight.”