Alan Long reviews an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ celebrated novel at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre...
OUR VERDICT
This is an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ celebrated novel which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006. It is a complicated story, told with economy and sympathy; there are fascinating characters and situations which grip the attention and engage the emotions, but it never quite escapes the gloom and foreboding of its desolate historical settings and the troubled lives of its protagonists.
In a series of scenes set in 1947, we are introduced to several people linked or estranged by their experiences, secrets, lies and fears. Signs of the war recently ended are all around: bomb damage, drab clothing and interiors, food rationing, people hungrily eyeing leftovers on each other’s plates.
Viv and Helen run a dating agency. Viv is in a long term affair with a married soldier and has had a traumatic abortion which could have killed her. Helen lives with her lover, Julia. Helen and Julia have previously had love affairs with Kay, both of which ended in betrayal or acrimony. Kay mourns her loss of Helen and is deeply depressed. Viv’s brother, Duncan, has been in prison as a result of his attempted suicide in a pact with his friend Alec, who died. Having left prison, Duncan is living with Mr Mundy, a prison officer who befriended – groomed and manipulated – him during his sentence. Fraser, who was imprisoned as a conscientious objector (or deserter?) and shared a cell with Duncan, is horrified to learn of the relationship with Mr Mundy.
Relationships between Kay, Julia and Helen though animated by passion are strained by suspicion, jealousy, resentment and insecurity.
The appearance of Fraser brings the possibility of hope and release. His concern about Duncan’s unhealthy dependence on Mr Mundy gives Duncan the courage to begin to free himself from the relationship. Fraser also supports Viv in returning a ring, received from Kay as a kind gift in desperate circumstances. Viv is elated by the experience and Kay, suddenly enlivened by the return of her cherished ring, feels that she may be able to take back control.
The roots of each character’s predicament in 1947 are traced back through scenes set in 1944 and 1941, which gradually reveal more about their circumstances and the accidents and motivations which led them to their chosen paths.
The dramas and dangers of the wartime setting are convincingly rendered by flashes, bangs, sirens and smoke. There are moments of charm and animation: music and song ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’ at first hesitantly voiced by Mr Mundy on the prison wing, in ironic counterpoint to a harrowing scene just enacted, then taken up by Vera Lynne in the familiar uplifting orchestrated version. There is also some comedy: Mr Wilson a dissatisfied user of the dating service loudly lists the types of women to whom he does not wish to be introduced. And there is genuine warmth and care between some of the characters, and acts of selflessness and heroism.
However, the back to front method of storytelling means that the hope hinted at in the earlier (1947) scenes of the play has faded or been forgotten when one is caught up in the drama and shock at the end (1941).
Whilst there is much to admire in the acting, staging and writing, and there were moments that raised the spirits, the overall mood was characterised by loss, shame, fear, tension and dread, and the predominant effect of the experience for this reviewer at least, was lowering.
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, 21st September to 28th September 2019:
- 19:45 - Tue 24 Sep 2019
- 19:45 - Wed 25 Sep 2019
- 14:30 - Thu 26 Sep 2019
- 19:45 - Thu 26 Sep 2019
- 20:00 - Fri 27 Sep 2019
- 14:30 - Sat 28 Sep 2019
- 20:00 - Sat 28 Sep 2019
Tickets from £25.50 (book here)
