Wuthering Heights
Adapted by Laura Turner
The Asylum Players
The Blue Room, Lincoln
24 - 26 November 2022
There are some stories that are just perfect for adaptation and new interpretations. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is one such novel. This sweeping, tragic, yet romantic novel has had countless adaptations on film, TV, in dance, and on stage. This year, the Asylum Players present a new adaptation by the immensely talented and prolific Laura Turner. Not content with taking on the challenge of adapting one of the best known classics, Turner also manages to appear as Catherine Earnshaw, Cathy, daughter of the owner of the titular estate and is Assistant Producer alongside Produce Steve Gillard.
Gillard, assisted by Peggy Reading (as Director and Assistant Director), produce a magnificent piece of theatre within Lincoln's Blue Room. The play is performed in the round, with a raised platfrom that has a single tree stump with moss around it, as the central focus. Due to the nature of the space, most of the lighting comes from overhead which works to create a searing, passionate and dark telling of the story, though sadly affects photography as the moody lighting throwns many shadows and blurs photos, something which is never an issue when the audience sees the show performed live.
Turner's adaptation begins as young Cathy, the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw, discovers her mother's diary, something that ought to have been destroyed though never was. It begins a quest to connect, to understand, and to know the mother she had been deprived of throughout her life. The persistence of young Cathy unearths an uncomfortable family history with twists, turns, violence and abuse. Yet above all, despte the tragic conclusion to Catherine's story, it remains an enduring love story. Young Cathy is played, initially with wide-eyed innocence, by Sophie Corner. As the action of the play progresses we see that young Cathy is very much her mother's daughter with resolute commitment and steely determination which Corner handles really well.
She is often accompanied by Nellie Dean, played by Sophie Marlowe, who has a thankless task, being friend and confidante to both Cathys, over the shifting timespan of the story. Marlowe gives an excellent performance and her omnipresence throughout provides the necessary link and we see Nellie develop as a character too, thanks to Marlowe's portrayal.
Another constant is Zillah, the maid who works for the owner of Wuthering Heights and again spans the decades in her performance. Amy Mangnone offers a kindly servant with a knowing edge in her interpretation of Zillah. She functions to help transform the space from the Yorkshire Moors to Wuthering Heights, to Thrushcroft Grange, with additions of props and speeds the scene transitions mostly efficiently. She is used sparingly, but effectively, and her presence feels natural throughout.
One performer whose work is really cut out for them is Joe Brammer, as he plays several characters, necessary to drive the plot but each given little action. Nevertheless, he crafts each role and performs well, so that the audience always understands the nature and essence of each character. It is so difficult to adapt a huge, well-known classic of this nature with a limited cast and credit must be given to cast members who are able to multi-role in such circumstances.
The children of Thrushcross Grange are played by Emily Hodgson and Simon Payne, as Isabella and Edgar Linton. They too handle the transitions across the decades well. Payne's Edgar becomes a surrogate love interest for Catherine, as the story progresses and she marries him and gives birth to young Cathy. It is a thankless role, one of a number of such roles within Emily Brontë's story. He is not, and never will be a substitute for the true love of Catherine's life, and yet he provides his love and a relatively stable life for her, and most importantly he gives her a child. Payne does so well, within the limitations of the story, to present Edgar as a tragic figure undeserving of the torment he too faces in life.
His sister Isabella (Hodgson) also suffers an unjust and undeserved fate. Hodgson manages to convey the fear and wonder experienced by her character effectively and though often an observer, is a notable presence within the play. Brontë perhaps had little time or empathy for the siblings but these performers make them sympathetic regardless. She begins as a giddy young girl, blossoms into womanhood, and descends into an abused wife as the play progresses, giving a satisfyingly accomplished performance.
Samuel Mant gives powerful performance as Hindley, the clearly undeserving heir who inherits Wuthering Heights upon the death of his father. In some distrubing, violent scenes he beats and bullies all who dare cross him, with no regard for family loyalty or love. He is a self-serving bully who deservedly loses everything as the story progresses, including his wife Francis, whom he kills in a fit off rage. Francis dares to stand up to him in a strong performance from Rachel Emily.
A featured, though small role is that of the effette figure of Linton, son of Heathcliffe and Isabella. His is portrayed by Morgan Holgate, who manages to evoke a high level of sympathy from the audience as he is subjected to maltreatment from his father who wants to use him to take over Thrushcross Grange in an act of revenge, by marrying Cathy Linton. He conveys Linton's sensitivity so clearly and we feel for him, as his father's swipe at him sends him crashing to the floor, emasculated. It is a an excellent cameo performance.
And rounding out the cast in another notable cameo is the young maid Mary, played by Sophia Knowles, Isabella constant companion and servant throughout, but cannot bear to see her abused by the mean and moody Heathcliffe.
And so, to the two central figures within the story, Cathy and Heathcliffe, as mentioned above the plays author Laura Turner makes a huge impression as the lovestruck and yet deranged Cathy. It is an impassioned interpretation of this headstrong young woman ,destined to die tragically and yet doomed to roam the moors haunting the memory of her true love, Heathcliffe. Her wild-eyed and impetuous execution of the role demonstrates a real commitment to her source material and to watch her downward spiral throughout the play is truly distressing. It is a wonderful performance though and one which will be long-remembered.
Finally, Heathcliffe, a young child brought to Wuthering Heights as a gift to Catherine as a child and named by her. This role is legendary and requires a dft performance to avoid going over the top, especially as the brutish nature of the wronged man takes over, creating a bitter and twisted anti-hero who also succeeds in abusing others and bullying people to take his anger out on them. Michael Muyunda is superb in the role and gives an epic performance as the object of Cathy's passion, despised and ostracised by Hindley and bitterly resented by Edgar. Muyunda is a powerfully, passionate actor who succeeds in showing his affection for Cathy and yet retains a brooding intensity. His silence often says more than his speech. He is more sinned against than sinning in his portrayal.
The audience longs to see Cathy and Heathcliffe united in their love despite everything and everyone within the story. They are soul mates and belong together. In a beautifully framed final scene, the two lovers are united in death as life goes on around them. The haunting image is lit so well (by Tom Marcinek) with the living characters warm and full of life and an ethereal glow around the lovers in the distance.
Special mention must be made of the music, which is a key feature, so well-integrated into the play. It was written by Jordan Shiel and is hauntingly beautiful, as it underscores perfectly the action on stage and almost takes on an identity itself within the play. It was perfectly judged and balanced, played live by three musicans - Glory Bakyayita on piano and vocal, Aakash Jansari on cello, and Megan Lander on vocals. Shiel's score summons feelings from the text and translates them brilliantly, gently allowing the action on stage to take the lead and never detracting from it. The vocal combination of Bakyayita and Lander was rich, sumptuous and unerringly beautiful.
Overall, the Asylum Players have created a wonderful new adaptation and one of which they can feel justly proud. I thoroughly recommend this to lovers of theatre and lovers of great literature. The show run from tonight until Saturday.
Andy Evans 24 November 2022
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