REBECCA:Du Maurier [adapted by McGuiness]

Nottingham.

REBECCA
by Daphne Du Maurier adapted by Frank McGuinness.

Theatre Royal: Tkts 0115 989 5555 www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk To 15 October 2005.
Runs: 2hr 20min One interval.
Performance times: 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinees Wed and Sat.
Post-show discussion 13 Oct.
Review: Alan Geary: 10 October.

Was it a good idea to turn this implausible melodrama into a play?
It’s very easy to see that there are problems with this production: that much is obvious. But it’s less easy to point the finger.

You can hardly blame Nigel Havers [Maxim De Winter], Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh [Mrs De Winter] or some of the supporting actors for being over-histrionic and declamatory: it’s difficult to imagine how they could have played Frank McGuiness’s adaptation any other way.

But for the most part the lines are not his: they’re Daphne Du Maurier’s. It’s not her fault either; she wrote a novel, not a play, and her absurdly formal dialogue sits more easily on the printed page.

Too many of the characters - for instance Jack Flavell [played by Guy Williams] who’s too camp to be a cad, too caddish to be camp - are allowed to collapse into caricature. This draws surely inappropriate laughter from the audience, inappropriate because it’s, presumably, not the intention to send the whole thing up.

That said, some actors, notably John Frith, perfect as the supportive butler, and Margaret Robertson, as a loud and rich American, an ancient grandmother and a business-like doctor, show splendid restraint.

It starts promisingly. In front of a beautifully done back projection of waves crashing against a beach, Dermot-Walsh, her frock the same colour as the foam, speaks that famous opening line. Further back, the black-clad figure of Mrs Danvers climbs some stairs.

Thereafter though, the basic set, which hardly changes, becomes an un-ambitious disappointment.

All the leads are at their best after the interval. Once the truth about the late Mrs De Winter has emerged Dermot-Walsh handles her character’s new assertiveness well; and Havers makes Maxim almost credible.

The most satisfying moments in Maureen Beattie’s portrayal of Mrs Danvers come when she seems crazed. When she first appears, in sensible clumpy shoes and severe black dress, she’s more like a no nonsense senior guard at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp than a housekeeper.

Perhaps after all, despite its power and popularity, Rebecca is an implausible melodrama. Unless the intention is to turn it into a comedy it should be left between the covers of a book.

Mrs De Winter: Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh.
Mrs Danvers: Maureen Beattie.
Mrs Van Hopper:/Grandmother/Dr Baker: Margaret Robertson.
Waiter/Frank Crawley: Martyn Stanbridge.
Maxim De Winter: Nigel Havers.
Italian General: Michael Hucks.
Clarice/Young Wife: Jenna Renshaw.
Frith: John Nicholas.
Robert/Ben: Gregor Henderson-Begg.
Beatrice: Amanda Waldy.
Giles/Colonel Julyan: Ian Barritt.
Jack Favell: Guy Williams.

Director: Patrick Mason.
Designer: Robert Jones.
Lighting: Howard Harrison.
Sound: Simon Baker.

2005-10-11 08:31:10