For love and money

Cupid and cupidity are never far apart in this enticingly cynical comedy, which spins its web around individuals who believe the best things in life are definitely not free. First performed at the Haymarket in 1877, its satirical attack on the pecuniary obsessions of Victorian society led one critic to dismiss it as "heartless" and "cold-blooded", so it is intriguing to see how it stands up in these equally money-motivated times.

That intrigue is added to by the fact that the author of Engaged, WS Gilbert, is far better known for his collaborations with Arthur Sullivan. Yet this drama reveals a far darker side to his comic persona than fans - or indeed, detractors - would recognise from his operettas.

The play opens with a seemingly fetching proposal scene between a grinning Scottish lad, Angus, and a woolspinning-Scottish lassie, Maggie. Suddenly, its ironic colours are revealed, as it emerges that the "respectable" suitor makes money for the village by derailing passing steam trains so that passengers are forced to pay for shelter and food provided by his friends and family.

And this is only the subplot. Director Tim Carroll - shortlisted for an Evening Standard Award for his Twelfth Night at the Globe - coaxes fine comic performances from a parade of characters associating love more with calculations than palpitations. Paul Chahidi's wonderfully Mr Toad-like Cheviot Hill is a miser financially, but hopelessly extravagant in his proposals of marriage to any girl he claps eyes on.

Hill's father has guaranteed his good friend Belvawney £1,000 each year to stop Cheviot from marrying, while Hill's uncle automatically receives the same amount when he does. An emotional tug-of-war is inevitable.

From this premise, Jane Austen's universally acknowledged truth that a well-off man is in need of a wife is delivered with acidic relish.

Seen by some as a precursor to Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Engaged is less subtle in tone but satisfyingly damning in its ruthlessly deployed wit.

Claire Redcliffe's far from innocent Scottish lassie and John Paul Connolly's lachrymose hunk of a Scotsman stand out in a cast that should provide much Christmas delight. Scrooge would have felt very at home.

Until 11 January. Box office: 020 8940 3633

Engaged