Daphne du Maurier : Rebecca
Adapted and directed by Emma Rice
Emma Rice's adaptation begins, and ends, needs must, with what has become one of the most famous incipits in English literature : "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Kneehigh's production takes us there very successfully, a dilapidated upper tier of an elegant early 19th Century design dropping down into a well which contains a partially wrecked small boat, and supported by a slender colonnade, a very handsome, if somewhat perilous set which the small, athletic cast negotiates with impressive ease. The setting is period, between the wars, with either recorded music of the time, or traditional shanties sung (very well) by the cast. Kneehigh is based in Cornwall, and favours productions with a local flavour, and while Daphne du Maurier wrote many texts with a stronger Cornish tint than Rebecca, nevertheless, the suggestion of location is there.
While du Maurier herself made a stage adaptation of her novel, the most famous version remains that of Hitchcock's masterly film. If the novel's popularity ebbs and flows, there are few of us who do not know the film, and any other version has to contend with that, probably more so than with the original text. Rice has taken the challenge seriously, to create a real piece of theatre from the available elements, to the point of creating a strong current of comedy to highlight the drama. In the novel, it's just a hint of a thread; in Rice's staged version, it's a real piece of counterpoint, young Robert (Katy Owen), an adolescent servant-in-training, exuberant, enthusiastic, well-meaning but inappropriate.
Rice also uses Maxim's sister Beatrice, and her husband Giles, as a humorous device, but this is less successful, because here we lose the connection between them and both Maxim and his new bride. In the novel, it's clear that Bea approves of the new Mrs. de Winter, and disliked Rebecca, but has never been able to express that dislike. Here, it's much less clear, and looks like Bea was as fooled as everyone else was by Rebecca. Lizzie Winkler and Andy Williams were extravagant and funny, but more superficial than they needed to be. Jack Favell (Ewan Warden) became a rather secondary character, particularly since there was no transposition to London and the courts, but simply an on-site hearing with the coastguards, but Ben became a timorous and slightly retarded adolescent (Katy Owen, again), touching and eloquent, his fears a true indicator of Rebecca's vicious nature.
The other thing that was missing from this production was the sense of manipulation of Mrs. Danvers. She was well portrayed by Emily Raymond, sternly handsome in black, with a razor sharp bob, but there was no time in this adaptation to show how she constantly undermines the new Mrs. de Winter in the household, nor the madness as she realises that Rebecca did not tell her everything, although Hitchcock played that up considerably in his film. In the novel, Mrs. Danvers simply disappears, and it is never really made clear how it is that Manderley is set on fire. Nor is it here, while, disquietingly, Mrs. de Winter dons Rebecca's housecoat at the end, as if taking on her character, though in support of her husband, instead of provoking him into killing her.
Tristan Sturrock played Maxim, uncommunicative until backed into a corner, though I never really got the impression from him that Manderley is a burden of which he longs to be freed, which should be the case. Most of the evening, however, rested on the shoulders of Imogen Sage's Mrs. de Winter, shy and eager at the start, everything about her indicative of her longing to be accepted. It was this that allowed the subterfuge of the dress for the ball to work; there are no portraits visible in this set, so nothing Danvers could point to as inspiration. She simply brings on an elaborate black lace gown, since Mrs. de Winter has not had the time to find a costume for herself, and it is Mrs. de Winter's eagerness to please that does the work for her. The explanation for Maxim's anger, however, is fudged, too quick and barely audible, and the incitement to suicide afterwards barely credible, before the discovery of the boat and the body shift the action to the next level.
On the whole, this is a good adaptation, with a great deal of ingenuity in the staging, good lighting effects, and strong musical elements too. There are some things I would have liked to have seen taken more seriously - Beatrice and Giles, here rather reduced to a comic duo - but others that were remarkably effective - the beach cottage with a teenage Ben, and the traditional shanties in the score, as well as the handsome stage setting, and a sterling performance from Imogen Sage.
[Nest. 6th November]
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