![](https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Sam-Archer-Edgar-Linton-Ash-Hunter-Heathcliff-and-Lucy-McCormick-Cathy.-Credit-Steve-Tanner.jpg)
Show: Wuthering Heights
Society: National Theatre (professional)
Venue: Lyttelton theatre, National Theatre. Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
Credits: By Emily Brontë. Adapted by Emma Rice. Co-production by National Theatre, Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal.
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 04/02/2022
Wuthering Heights
Chris Abbott | 05 Feb 2022 11:43am
Image: Sam Archer (Edgar Linton), Ash Hunter (Heathcliff) and Lucy McCormick (Cathy). Photo: Steve Tanner
Wise Children’s version of Wuthering Heights is a co-production with the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal and has now arrived at the Lyttleton Theatre. On a stage bare apart from a few chairs, doors and windows, and in front of a projected cloudscape, the familiar story is played out with a particular shift, much emphasis being given to the complex web of family relationships at the heart of the novel.
Emma Rice’s adaptation does much to clarify this background, and in the process brings some characters into sharper focus, particularly the Lintons. Others, such as Nelly Dean, are cut. As Adapter and Director, Rice also adds a Chorus in the form of a group who are known as the Moor. Heathcliff’s otherness is made much of, as has been the case with several other adaptations, and with textual justification. The main feeling of the Moor comes, however, from the projections of stormy clouds and wheeling birds which form a backdrop to the stage.
The several narrators of the novel, and its use of flashback, are replaced by a broadly chronological retelling, with song, movement and dance used to enhance the story-telling. The choreography in particular (Etta Murfitt, perhaps influenced by Northern clog-dancing) is both vigorous and mood-setting and the music (Ian Ross) is effective and lively, although the words sung are often undecipherable. The many deaths in the novel are each underpinned by a solemn procession with the name of the latest victim on a slate; another (if rather basic) way of clarifying the plot.
The performances, all excellent, are a curious mixture of styles. As Mr Lockwood and especially as Edgar Linton, Sam Archer uses his dance background to great effect. His arrival as Lockwood in a storm created by his own manipulation of his coat is quite remarkable, but unlike almost anything else in the piece. As Isabella, Katy Owen’s performance is well-matched to his Edgar, both of them seeming to have popped in from a lively Dickensian musical. As the younger Linton, this striking actor creates an unforgettable cameo: it is impossible to look at anyone else when she is on stage.
As Catherine, Lucy McCormick is wholly convincing, whether as the forthright young woman of the early sections of the novel or as the hollow-eyed ghost on the Moors, haunting the later stages of the play. Craig Johnson makes much of Dr Kenneth, even when asked to wear bright green gloves, and Nandi Bhebhe and her Chorus members are wholly effective as all the other roles.
At the centre of the play, quite rightly, is Heathcliff: and he is played with great power, subtlety and presence by Ash Hunter. He manages to suggest Heathcliff’s otherness quite subtly by accent and stance, and is always convincing as the Byronic hero. It is an extremely impressive performance: the powerful, still centre of the play.
Other aspects of the production are less effective. The puppets suffer from not following a coherent look; the dog is a skull on a scythe – an interesting idea and well manipulated – but then the human characters portrayed by puppets are realistic half-figures with detached right arms. The use of books on rods to portray (I think) birds is undercut by the far more powerful and synchronous images of wheeling birds on the video screen. It’s also a long evening, almost three hours on press night, perhaps as a result of the decision to attempt to explain the full background to the central romance; but this means that the core relationship is sometimes left on the fringes of the action.
A flawed concept then, which is saved by an impressive company who tackle this complex but long-lived story with commitment, skill and enthusiasm.
- : admin
- : 04/02/2022