WUTHERING HEIGHTS at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden

★★★★

“almost Shakespearian at times in the rhythm of the language yet peppered with modern profanities and anachronisms”

One always admires companies who tackle outdoor shows in the UK. They are always risky undertakings, what Oscar Wilde would describe as a ‘triumph of hope over experience’. The evocatively titled Midnight Circle Productions don’t shy away from the challenge as they take their devised adaptation of Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” around some of England’s most beautiful castles, manor houses and gardens.

As part of the tour, they have shored up in the West India Docks for two nights at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf. A haven of exotic plants and hidden pathways that lead you to the small amphitheatre that, in partnership with The Space Theatre, offers free events throughout the summer months. Asian bamboos to the left, ferns from the Americas to the right, the walkway follows the Meridian line, but it never quite feels like you have escaped the city. An artificial sheen hangs in the air, matched by the rather unatmospheric theatre space you eventually stumble upon. Planes, trains and automobiles provide much of the soundtrack while a featureless wall provides the backdrop.

The cast rise to the challenge and, although not always projecting as strongly as is necessary, they hold our attention throughout with their retelling of the Brontë classic. Told with wonderful clarity and constancy, it stamps its own individuality by allowing the characterisation to fill the spaces in the framework of the text. Director Nicholas Benjamin’s semi-improvised approach lets everyone take a writing credit. The result could be chaotic but here the narrative is a mix of soap opera and classical prose; almost Shakespearian at times in the rhythm of the language yet peppered with modern profanities and anachronisms. The fluctuating tempo of the staging is led by offstage percussion and sporadic bouts of music that tentatively wander into the playing space. An underused squeezebox shyly underscores while an under amplified guitar accompanies the folksy song interludes.

The story unfolds in flashback as Nelly (Jacqueline Johnson) relates it to Lockwood (Nicholas Benjamin), the new tenant to gruff, eccentric Heathcliff – the landlord of the remote Wuthering Heights. Transported back thirty years, Lockwood learns the backstory to the two families (the Earnshaws and the Lintons) and their turbulent relationships with the Earnshaws’ adopted son, Heathcliff. While the production doesn’t quite capture the Romanticism and the Gothic heart of the novel, it certainly draws attention to the cruelty, both mental and physical and the challenging issue of abuse, class and morality. Renny Mendoza’s Heathcliff is a rather unremitting thug, who sulks and shouts his way to his pitiless end, though a charismatic presence, nonetheless. Oscar Mackie’s Hindley Earnshaw, despite being the archetypal bully, fares better in the sympathy stakes. Less a drunkard, Mackie plays the alcoholic with a modern sensitivity. A similar modernism is given to Catherine Earnshaw (Niamh Handley-Vaughan) and Isabella Linton (Nadia Lamin). Both Handley-Vaughan and Lamin keep victimhood at bay with their strong portrayals of the tragic women.

The strengths of this show, however, are often lost in the surroundings. Subtle sound effects (of ghosts or of a wrenching cry) created by the company members themselves had to compete with layers of traffic and streams of curious, often vocal, onlookers. We are more than tempted to follow the play to its next location to feel the full impact of the performance – one full of respect for the original, but not afraid to give it a bit of a shake.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden then tour continues

Reviewed on 24th July 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Roj Whitelock

Top shows this month:

GLITCH | ★★★★ | Minghella Theatre | July 2024

CARMEN | ★★★★ | Sadler’s Wells Theatre | July 2024

SKELETON CREW | ★★★★ | Donmar Warehouse | July 2024

BARNUM | ★★★★ | Watermill Theatre Newbury | July 2024

MEAN GIRLS | ★★★★★ | Savoy Theatre | July 2024

SH!T-FACED A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM | ★★★★ | Leicester Square Theatre | July 2024

HELLO, DOLLY! | ★★★★ | London Palladium | July 2024

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST | ★★★★ | Reading Abbey Ruins | July 2024

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

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★★★

“There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre”

It’s a dark and chilly night in Hoxton and we have come to church. After a quick safety briefing, we are ushered down a perilous staircase and into the crypt. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, we enter a different world. The crypt has been dressed to look like a Victorian pub/brothel and the Victorian Gothic dress code (which I realised after the fact) makes it hard to tell who’s audience, and who’s performing. It is totally immersive.

After some introductory general old-timey improv, the play begins proper. It’s a reworking of Frankenstein, focussing on his early life and family. Much of the story is the same as the original, but with the crucial difference that the corpse he reanimates is his mother. It’s a fascinating idea, she is both his mother and his child, though this is only lightly explored. The changes to the original story seem a little random, and occasionally quite repetitive, but it does make it feel fresher.

This play is immersive, meaning there are multiple scenes at once, and theoretically the audience can wander between them. It takes a bit of time but soon the audience feel comfortable following the sound of the most interesting room. A classic problem with immersive theatre is feeling like you’re missing something in another room. I confidently strode into a room, where crucial action had been taking place throughout the show, only to find myself (and several uncomfortable audience members) trapped watching a man rearrange a table. But the play is carefully constructed so you cannot miss vital moments, and missing some of it is part of the fun.

“The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random”

Nicholas Benjamin’s directing was impressive. The logistical side of things was executed really well, with audience shepherded from space to space and most of the scene transitions flagged fairly naturally. He played the role of Robert Walton, which allowed him, as narrator, to move us around without disturbing the main action. This is a play which is primarily focussed on world building, and an ambitious vision, which it does execute well, especially in terms of the set design, which is evocative.

Unfortunately, the script, devised by Benjamin and the cast, was a bit all over the place. There’s a chaotic mix of improv, quotes from the novel, and original dialogue. The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random.

An absolute shining element of this piece is Nadia Lamin as Viktor’s Mother/The Creature. Her performance is arresting and disturbing. A moment where she is writhing and contorting across the room is made all the more horrifying by the intimacy of the space. Piers Mackenzie as William Frankenstein (Viktor’s younger brother) is also very strong, consistently using his natural comic timing to bring laughter into the space.

There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre, created by movement director Chris Evans. These are performed to Nick White’s Victorian style reworkings of pop songs, something which seems to be increasingly popular, perhaps since Bridgerton. This works well for the live songs, which are exciting and energetic, but feels a bit inconsistent when it is recorded, perhaps because so much of the show is condensed into the space, and this suddenly takes us out of it.

The immersive element is well executed, and worth a visit for that alone. The story itself is a bit weaker, but it is an enjoyable experience overall.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden

★★★★

“almost Shakespearian at times in the rhythm of the language yet peppered with modern profanities and anachronisms”

WUTHERING HEIGHTS at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden then tour continues

Reviewed on 24th July 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Roj Whitelock

Top shows this month:

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

FRANKENSTEIN at St Peter’s Church Crypt

★★★

“There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre”

“The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random”

FRANKENSTEIN at St Peter’s Church Crypt

Reviewed on 4th October 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Roj Whitelock

Top rated shows in September

Frankenstein

Frankenstein