Wuthering Heights in Birmingham

Today, September 26, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre premieres a new adaptation of Wuthering Heights written by April De Angelis:

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company presents
Wuthering Heights

Fri 26 Sep 2008 – Sat 18 Oct 2008
By Emily Bronte, Adapted by April De Angelis
Tickets £10 to £32, concessions available

A brand new adaptation brings Emily Bronte’s passionate and spellbinding tale of forbidden love and revenge to life on stage.
Set on the wild, windswept Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights is the tempestuous story of free-spirited Catherine and dark, brooding Heathcliff. As children running wild and free on the moors, Cathy and Heathcliff are inseparable.
As they grow up their affection deepens into a passionate love, but Cathy lets her head rule her heart as she chooses to marry the wealthy Edgar Linton.
Heathcliff flees broken-hearted only to return seeking terrible vengeance on those he holds responsible, with epic and tragic results.
April De Angelis is one of the UK’s most innovative dramatists. Her plays have included A Laughing Matter at the National Theatre, Hush at the Royal Court and The Warwickshire Testimony for the RSC.

Cast:

* Servant: Martin Allanson
* Heathcliff: Antony Byrne
* Lockwood: Simon Coates
* Edgar/Linton: Toby Dantzic
* Hindley/Hareton: Edmund Kingsley
* Isabella: Emma Noakes
* Cathy: Amanda Ryan
* Joseph/Old Mr Linton: David Whitworth
* Frances: Victoria Yeates
* Nelly Dean: Susannah York

Crew:

• Director: Indhu Rubasingham
• Designer: Mike Britton
• Lighting Designer: Chris Davey
• Sound Designer: Matt McKenzie
• Choreographer: Imogen Knight
• Associate Director: Neale Birch
• Fight Director: Bret Yount
• Dialect Coach: Neil Swain
• Composer: Paul Englishby

More information on the Birmingham Repertory Theatre website, including a promo clip. Metro presents the production like this:

On paper, it looks like the grudge match of the century: April De Angelis, a bold feminist playwright, up against one of literature's most unpleasantly misogynist cads. Thanks largely to Laurence Olivier's 1939 screen portrayal, Heathcliff's uglier side has been airbrushed to the point that he's now regarded as the ultimate brooding catch.
De Angelis, a writer best known for Playhouse Creatures, her play about Restoration-era actresses, certainly won't be downplaying Heathcliff's capacity for brutality in her adaptation for Birmingham Rep. 'It's a very violent book,' she states. 'When you see Heathcliff beating Cathy to the floor there on the stage, it has a kick that you don't get from reading it.'
De Angelis's main beef, however, is with the fictional narrator, Nelly Dean. 'I don't think Heathcliff is the book's biggest sinner. Nelly, to me, seems far worse. She's the most repressive, the one who condemns Cathy more than anybody. I was really struck by just how destructive she is. What Heathcliff does seems a natural reaction to being made to feel an outcast since childhood. But what's Nelly's excuse?'
De Angelis's focus on Nelly is reflected not only by a truly head-turning piece of casting - she's being played by Susannah York - but also by the choices she's made in the retelling.
'The novel's been described as having a Chinese boxes structure, with lots of stories-within-stories, which I've found useful for structuring the play. But I was struck by how duplicitous Nelly is. As it became clearer that she's an unreliable narrator, I realised I needed to emphasise her role in the story.' (Jim Burke)

Picture: Susannah York and Simon Coates, ©Manuel Harlan, Source

EDIT (26 September):
The Express & Star, The Redditch Standard and The Bromsgrove Standard also publish articles about the production.

Categories: Theatre, Wuthering Heights