REVIEW: Stormy opening for Rebecca
Tring Festival Company stage Du Maurier classic at The Court Theatre.
REBECCA was one of Daphne Du Maurier's greatest successes, spawning an Oscar-winning film in 1940 that has never been rivalled for dramatic tension.
So following in the footsteps of director Alfred Hitchcock was always going to be a tall order for Eileen Reece when she staged the Tring Festival Company's version of the thriller at The Court Theatre this week.
It is a hugely ambitious play, not only in its casting but also set design. Lovers of the book will know that the action takes place first in Monte Carlo and then in and around the stunning Cornish country mansion, Manderley.
I was always uneasy about Nigel Havers' enormously successful version of the story which appeared at Milton Keynes Theatre. It was filled with technical wizardry but little substance.
For Mandeley is as essential to the plot as its characters. For this Reece recreated the golden age of Hollywood by designing a splendid monochrome set that evoked both the old black and white Olivier film and the stark black words in the pages of the novel.
Costumes carried on the theme – until one key plot point when a blood red splash of colour was introduced. Even the drinks – whiskey and brandy - were colourless. It was clever and very effective.
Du Maurier thought so little of her leading lady that the character wasn't given a first name. Joan Fontaine went through the film being referred to as the second Mrs De Winter.
She is a mousy, weak-willed, girl from the lower classes, lacking looks, confidence and self esteem, who falls victim both to the dominance of her new husband and the spiteful malice of Mrs Danvers, Manderley's housekeeper.
The girl is snatched away from her dull life as a lady's companion when she falls for the charms of a man old enough to be her father.
Indeed everyone believes Maxim De Winter has simply married the young girl to help fill a void at Manderley left by the sudden death a year earlier of his beloved wife Rebecca.
But while the ghost of his former wife hangs over the cliff-top house things aren't quite what they seem.
What is important in this story of obsession, manipulation, love and hatred, is how the tension is racked up throughout the drama until we reach an explosive denouement.
There's a lot of exposition, particularly from the sinister and obviously deranged housekeeper, which fills in the plot points and prevents the play from dragging on into the night (it's a pretty thick book).
But the drama is very much a company effort and, sadly, first night nerves got the better of some of the players.
Dan Clucas was impressively suave as De Winter, successfully wrapping his character in an overcoat of cool detachment that hid the man's inner turmoil.
There was the controlling and paternal demeanour but De Winter was a bit of an enigma. What were his real reasons for marrying, what secrets did he have, and was he really as distraught as everyone believed ?
Strong support came from cameo appearances by Chris Dearden and Derek Rookley as De Winter's fun-loving sister Bea and her bumbling, ruddy-faced husband Giles.
The pair brought moments of light relief in a story that seemed to lose its way in the second act.
It started so well. The tale bowled along before the interval, setting up the intrigue, and introducing us to one of the most evil women in literature.
Zed Herbert gave us a Mrs Danvers to relish. At times she veered to the pantomime baddy but then her quiet, understated menace and demented glare stole the show. There was an inexplicable urge to hiss whenever she glided onto the stage like a black demonic wraith.
Sadly the drama needed tighter direction in the second half and what should have been the crux of the story was lost by a nervous performance from Dave Reece as magistrate Colonel Julyan.
Maxine Reece also struggled as the new wife in a role that was clearly too demanding for her. She wrung her hands a lot and scowled without making her character in any way believable.
Rebecca is running until Saturday and performances will only get better. Amateur drama groups should never be afraid of tackling big, meaty, classics, and the TFC should be applauded for stepping out of their comfort zone.
For tickets contact the box office 01442 823130.
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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