JENUFA. To 17 November.
London
JENUFA
by Gabriela Preissova adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker.
Arcola Theatre 27 Arcola Street E8 2DJ To 17 November 2007.
Mon-Sat 8pm.
Runs 1hr 50min No interval.
TICKETS: 020 7503 1646.
www.arcolatheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 19 October.
Strong tragedy of country life.
Gabriela Preissova’s 1890 play is best-known through Leos Janacek’s opera. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s free adaptation keeps the familiar title (the play’s called Her Stepdaughter), but it’s the older woman, the Kostelnichka who’s central in a story of social pride in rural Moravia. Her title, “village sacristan”, points to her status, something she’s determined to keep by marrying step-daughter Jenufa to drunken mill-owner Steva rather than his poor brother Latsa, who loves the girl.
Latsa’s frustration leads him to embarrass and spite her, scarring her for life rather than letting anyone else marry her. When an illegitimate baby makes even Latsa refuse the woman he’s made unmarriageable, the Kostelnichka takes extreme action.
Irina Brown’s production opens with Jodie McNee’s Jenufa treading the Arcola stage’s sizeable perimeter in a ritualistic progress repeated through the action by individual and group alike. There’s formal restraint as she prays while carrying a bowl of water to her plants, already suggesting the contrast of nature and society that's sharpened with the self-important, pompous members of the local heirarchy, whose respect the Kostelnichka’s keen to keep.
She’s used to others coming to her for help, her official church standing combining with traditional knowledge of remedies. Already feeling demoted in respect as she asks for help, she’s dragged to ruin when her actions come to light.
Paola Dionisotti’s Kostelnichka starts on the sidelines, returning home happily with her backpack. She later patrols the stage’s edge with Jenufa’s baby before becoming physically central, washed-out with guilt and fear. Dionisotti creates immense emotion with unshowy intensity, in her lower voice notes and the mixed anxiety and tiredness as she sits or seeks to sidetrack others from her crime.
Played on Louis Price’s austere set, with its few platforms and plants, given a frosty bleakness under Tim Mascall’s lighting, and interspersed with folk-like choruses, Brown’s production works best expressing the social tragedy this society and its individuals create.
Country life is given a sophisticated makeover, with caricature at the edges and rationalising self-consciousness at its core. Still, this evening at the Arcola tells a powerful story and offers a tremendous central performance.
Jenufa: Jodie McNee.
Latsa: Oscar Pearce.
Burija: Darlene Johnson.
The Miller: Colin Mace
Jana: Jasmina Stosic.
Agnes: Pippa Lloyd.
Kostelnichka: Paola Dionisotti.
Mayor’s Wife: Patti Love.
Karolka: Valerie Antwi.
The Mayor: Larrington Walker.
Steva: Ben Mansfield.
Villagers: Jack Schweir, Musa Arsanali.
Director: Irina Brown.
Designer: Louis Price.
Lighting: Tim Mascall.
Music/Movement: Christopher Sivertson.
Music adviser: Dominique Le Gendre.
Dance adviser: Jackie Matthews.
Fight director: Bret Yount.
Voice: Ellen Newman.
Assistant director: Jack Schweir.
2007-10-22 10:39:21