A quirk of Eduardo de Filippo’s 1946 Neapolitan comedy is that it opens in the aftermath of what could have been its best scene. Domenico has just married his long-neglected partner, Filumena, on her deathbed, only to find her leap from the sheets in rude health, delighted with the trick she has played. As Sean Mathias’s production gets under way, Matthew Kelly strides about in indignant rage at the discovery while Felicity Kendal watches in silence, her impish smile and a slight shake of the hand speaking volumes.
It is an amusing introduction that sets up a play about relationships put to the test, yet without the enticing strangeness of the Italian playwright’s subsequent and superior Grand Magic. After seeing whether he loves her enough to marry her, Filumena springs another surprise: would he also bring into the family her three hitherto secret sons (Gavin Fowler, Fabrizio Santino and George Banks)?
