Heathcliff: a character of circumstance

West End Best Friend interviews Ike Bennett who plays Heathcliff in a new stage adaptation of Wuthering Heights which will tour the UK in the coming weeks.

You will soon be opening Wuthering Heights at the Royal and Derngate before heading out on tour. This is a contemporary adaptation, so what can audiences expect from this new production?

What audiences can expect from our contemporary adaptation is harks to our modern times, mostly in the forms of clothing, certain props and dance moves ;) One thing we, as a company, decided early on is the theme of race and how this affects Heathcliff’s descent into villainy. As there are diverse cast members, we discussed about the lineage of certain characters and how they relate to one another, plus research that helped our backstories to how some characters came to be involved in the 18th century. 

The story contains topics such as mental and physical cruelty and domestic abuse. These situations are much more openly talked about now than they were in the mid 1800’s when the novel was written. How are they portrayed differently in this adaptation?

Not portrayed much differently at all; the great thing about Brontës novel is the writing. In reading the novel, there is so much packed into three pages describing one moment, there is a lot of examples. What Ben (our brilliant writer) has managed to do is condense a lot of the material but keep really poignant lines of dialogue from the novel. This is especially the case of Catherine Earnshaw and Catherine Linton. It’s also important to note that mental, physical or emotional abuse is often played out in real life on a subtle level that while it may be talked about much more openly to them and to us is treated as an everyday occurrence.

You’re playing the character of Heathcliff. Do you think he really is a ‘misunderstood man’ or genuinely the villain of the piece?

I prefer to think he’s a misunderstood man conducting a piece of Villainy. Everyone is a product of their environment, Heathcliff ended up leading a life that was very much not his fault and was put into situations about his race and background that he couldn’t control. These things can make you do terrible deeds but at the same time, it isn’t excusable what he did. He was simply a character of circumstance. Unfortunately, strong emotions can make you do terrible things and judging by his actions in the book and the play, you see how all these affected him that he went to such great lengths to achieve his goals. (Rachel Louise Martin)

Happy Mag reports that Amy Winehouse's book collection is to be auctioned online and lists the books in it. One of them is:

– Rhys, Jean: Wide Sargasso Sea. London Penguin, ca 2000s . Paperback. Seems unread. Postcard of a Joseph Southall painting(“Parasols, Southwold, 1923) laid in at half title following intro.

SudInfo (Belgium) features Koekelberg's streets named after relevant women.

Les soeurs Brontë, figures majeures de la littérature anglaise qui ont fréquenté Koekelberg lors de séjours à Bruxelles. (Translation)