Based on a novel by Emily Bronte – Adapted and Directed by
Emma Rice
Composer: Ian Ross – Set and Costume Design: Vicki Mortimer.
Sound & Video design: Simon Baker – Lighting Design: Jai
Morjaria
Movement and Choreography: Etta Murfitt.
Presented by Liza McLean & Andrew Kay in association
with A National Theatre, Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal.
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney. 31st January to 15th
February 2025.
Opening night performance on 1st February
reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
This short, exclusive to Sydney, season at the Roslyn Packer Theatre gives Australian audiences an opportunity to experience a production by
acclaimed British director Emma Rice.
For those who have devoured Emily Bronte’s sprawling Gothic novel,
this production will prove a fascination, not the least because of the economy
with which the director and her creatives have managed to compress the myriad
of detail contained in the epic novel into a production that runs less than
three hours.
The story traces the convoluted lives of two wealthy
families who lived in the Yorkshire moors in the 19th century. It is
complicated by the fact that many of the highly strung characters bear the same
names as their ancestors.
For her adaptation, Rice approaches the story from the point
of view of the moors, represented by a Greek chorus of actors who also play various
characters from the novel as the play progresses.
A surrealistic stripped-back set design by Vicki Mortimer consists
largely of cleverly stacked chairs. Wheeled on screens represent various
locales. Lowered chandeliers differentiate the residences. Puppets are utilised
to represent children and savage dogs. Atmospheric lighting, sound, and video, together
with choreographed ensemble scenes provide additional atmosphere and spectacle.
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Characters address the audience directly to express feelings,
while members of the Moors keep the audience updated with hand-held blackboards
on which are scribbled in chalk, the names of characters and the dates of the action
taking place.
Throughout a haunting score played by onstage musicians and
sometimes sung by the ensemble add to the other-worldly feel of the play, especially
during the sections featuring the cello, played by TJ Holmes, who also portrays
Dr Kenneth in the show.
Only John Leader as Heathcliff, Stephanie Hockley as Catherine and Nandi Bhebhe as the Leader of the Moors play a single character throughout. Each offers a memorable portrayal. The other eight members of the company each play at least two or more supporting characters.
On opening night, not all the actors had adjusted their
vocal delivery to the size of the theatre, resulting in the loss of vital
information. This, coupled with the heightened acting style, the ever-changing
procession of neurotic characters, and Rice’s frenetic direction, although admittedly
clever, provided a significant challenge to those trying to keep track of the
convoluted storyline.
This was particularly evident after interval when thirteen-year-old
Cathy Linton is introduced and the story of how three years later she falls in
love with Heathcliff’s son Linton commences. Despite the skill of the actors, the
over-the-top melodrama of the pair’s story began to elicit nervous giggles, even
belly laughs, rather than empathy.
Some laughs had also occurred in the first half of the
production, and although it may have been the director’s intention to insert a
few laughs into the proceedings to lighten the mood, although welcomed by some,
they felt incongruous in the context of the storyline, and raised questions as
to whether they were purposely placed or accidental.
For devotees of “Wuthering Heights” there is much to enjoy in this striking production. For those yet to be persuaded, this is your opportunity.
Photos by Steve Tanner
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
