MARIANNE DREAMS. To 26 January.
London.
MARIANNE DREAMS
by Catherne Storr adapted by Moira Buffini.
Almeida Theatre To 26 January 2008.
Mon-Sat various dates 10am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 5.30pm, 7pm.
no performance 31 Dec.
Audio-described 19 Jan 2.30pm (+Touch Tour 1pm).
BSL Signed 16 Jan 1pm.
Captioned 9 Jan 1pm & 7pm.
Runs 1hr 15min No interval.
TICKETS: 020 7359 4404.
www.almeida.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 20 December.
High quality that doesn’t hang together.
A child’s fevered dream forms the story of Catherine Storr’s 1958 novel, adapted by Moira Buffini. But its realistic surround now seems a fantasy world itself. Mother looks after her 10-year old without reference to a separate career, a doctor makes home visits as required, and Marianne’s home tutor arrives carefree and dressed as for a cocktail party.
Yet it’s also an age when polio means confinement to an iron lung for Mark, another of the tutor’s pupils. He’s seen only in Marianne’s fantasy, a face at a window then a companion in flight - until the real-world, seaside ending.
By when Mark’s becoming mobile. It takes Marianne time to explain why she recognizes him, negotiating the relationship between vivid dream and daytime reality. What makes Storr’s story intriguing is that the fantasy emerges from the mind of bedridden Marianne; inspired by her tutor the girl who believes so little in herself, whose hope for an Arab Mare as her 10th birthday present is dashed when she’s given a single riding-lesson, goes beyond her limited self-belief through imaginative drawing, creating the story in which she stars.
But in trying to incorporate various theatrical styles, Will Tuckett’s production risks achieving too little. On a realistic plane, events hurry on with little exploration of character. As a dance-drama, or piece of physical theatre, the movement rarely achieves lift-off as a way of story advancement, though there’s a gripping moment as Marianne swings high over her sickbed, in a delirium where the adults seem remote.
Paul Englishby’s music defines mood in its chordal progress or speeding lines. But the elements don’t cohere. The graphics that illustrate Marianne’s drawing speed over and back across the set ingeniously and energetically, but only in the final stage of the imagined adventure do they contribute integrally.
It’s as if the whole production’s been put together for this climactic section. Performances are at least competent, in several cases more than that. Anthony Ward’s largely neutral design serves well enough, though there’s a sense it’s hemmed in by the need to double as drawing-board for Lorna Heavey’s darting projections.
Marianne: Selina Chilton/Sarah Boulton.
Helen: Sarah Malin.
Dr Burton: Jack James.
Miss Chesterfield: Siubhan Harrison.
Mark: Mark Arends.
Director/Choreographer: Will Tuckett.
Designer: Anthony Ward.
Lighting: Neil Austin.
Sound: Paul Groothius.
Music: Paul Englishby.
Musical Director: Corin Buckeridge.
Video/Projection: Lorna Heavey.
Assistant director: Imogen Knight.
2007-12-26 12:38:34