Show: A Passage To India
Society: Tower Theatre Company
Venue: Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington
Credits: E M Forster - stage adaptation by Martin Sherman
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 05/02/2020
A Passage To India
Chris Abbott | 06 Feb 2020 10:09am
Photos: Robert Piwko
E.M. Forster’s complex and episodic novel A Passage to India was sensitively adapted for the stage by Martin Sherman in 2004, and it is this version which Tower Theatre Company present at their new permanent home in Stoke Newington.
Although approached by a steep staircase, the auditorium is comfortable and has great potential for a variety of approaches. It is well used by director Simona Hughes in this confident and pacy production.
The key to Sherman’s adaptation is the focus on a small section from the book telling of a legend about a martyred boy, setting the scene for the tension between head and heart that defines much of the rest of the action. He also focuses in particular on two protagonists who go through change before reaching some form of self-knowledge: troubled Dr Aziz and the young Adela Quested. Unfortunately, Sherman’s version consists mostly of very short episodic scenes which seem more suited to a film or television adaptation, although this is mostly managed well here.
Rahul Singh is an appropriately troubled Aziz, most effective when quietly making clear his perplexity at the ways of the British in India. Rebecca Allan provides a committed and believable portrayal of Adela, going some way to making sense of some of the more unlikely aspects of the character. In many ways the centre of the production is the authoritative and urbane performance of Adnan Kapadia as Professor Godbole.
Simon Lee convinces as the troubled and conflicted Cyril Fielding, and portrays well his growing disenchantment with the British in India, except perhaps for the more sympathetic Mrs Moore, whose daughter he will marry in a plot development that is rather tagged on in this version. As Mrs Moore, Alison Liney represents something of the earlier days of the British in India, with an emphasis on understanding and building friendships rather than rule and divide. It is a difficult role to get right, especially her later disillusionment, but Liney meets the challenge totally in a detailed and totally effective portrayal.
A large and diverse cast portray the other characters, British and Indian, as well as the occasional rock or elephant. Tower will be the envy of many other companies in their ability to attract a cast diverse enough to put on productions such as this. If the final section, set two years after the earlier events, seems rushed in this production, it is due to the adaptation itself; later codas sit well in literary texts but often seem challenging onstage. The effective scene-setting at the beginning however, with music and some of the cast on stage, was completely derailed by the announcement of the next production just before the lights went down.
The Tower production is greatly enhanced by the set design from Max Batty (and costumes from Sue Carling and Elion Mittiga), lit by Stephen Ley, where the appropriate ochre colour is all that is needed to suggest the heat and dust of India, and good use is made of the upstage area whether as a courtroom or to enable key events to be portrayed in shadow. The overall effect is nicely enhanced by Rob Hepplethwaite’s subtle and effective sound design, as well as the live backing from composer Tamara Douglas-Morris and the musicians. This is an authoritative production of a little-known adaptation, and is a worthy addition to the Tower Theatre Company repertory.
- : admin
- : 05/02/2020