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Theatre listings > Rebecca. - Tour & Scottish Premiere. Playwright – Frank McGuinness based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Director - Patrick Mason. Designer - Robert Jones. Lighting Designer - Howard Harrison. Composer, original music - Conor Lineham. Musical Co-ordinator - Steve Parry. Cast - here . Company - Produced by David Pugh Ltd. Venue - King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, at 7:30pm also Wed & sat mats at 2:30pm 14 - 19 February, 2005. 2005 Tour Dates and Times - here .. Seen to review at Kings Theatre Edinburgh on 14 February 2005. Run Time - 2 hours, 15 mins, one interval. Reviewer - Vivien Devlin. Painstaking plot setting. 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...' The opening lines of Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca which has bewitched generations of readers by the haunting power of mystery and intrigue - a modern gothic romance in the legacy of Jane Eyre. Maxim de Winter, of Manderley, Cornwall, has recently married for the second time, but his new bride is ignorant of his past life. Desperate to find out about his first wife Rebecca, - “ a beautiful creature” - and how she died, she slowly unravels the truth. The opening scene captures the atmosphere and sound of ‘the treacherous sea’ along the Cornish coast with stylish economy. The stage features a pebble beach above which a film of pounding waves is projected on a huge curved screen. Then flashback as the narrative begins at the start of the novel in Monte Carlo when Maxim meets the girl who will become his wife. Du Maurier’s own adaptation ingeniously compressed the novel into a single setting of the drawing room at Manderley, thereby neatly editing out the first 62 pages. In this new adaptation by Frank McGuinness much of the first act is wasted with the painstaking plot setting before we get to the heart of the story. The pace is tediously slow, the dialogue extremely stilted, neither assists the actors. Nigel Havers as Maxim, impeccably dressed in panama hat, looks the debonair, English gentleman but seems to struggle getting to grips emotionally with the character. Ditto Elisabeth Dermot Walsh as his nervously shy, socially inexperienced wife. At last we arrive in Manderley and meet the rather sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers, performed with brittle, ice- cold composure by Maureen Beattie dressed in funereal black. Maxim’s sister Beatrice is played as a caricature jolly-hockey-stick school mistress. Elsewhere, melodramatic acting, unnecessary humour and “drawing room” scenes with everyone standing in a line – there are no chairs. The permanent empty beach setting cannot give any atmosphere of the grand Gothic house where Rebecca’s ghost and ‘whiff of scent’ should be lurking in the air. Rebecca is a dark, tragic tale about obsessive love, jealousy, hatred and revenge. In this production what is seriously lacking is any tangible sense of menacing danger or suspense. With little belief in the characters, ultimately there is no true feeling of emotion. Daphne du Maurier’s adaptation of Rebecca ran in London for 357 performances during the 1940’s. It has frequently been revived including Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Motto – “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.” ©Vivien Devlin 14 February, 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast: Maxim de Winter – Nigel Havers, Mrs Danvers – Maureen Beattie, Mrs De Winter – Elisabeth Dermot Walsh, Giles/Colonel Julyan, – Ian Barritt, Ben/Robert – Gregor Henderson-Begg, Frith – John Nicholas, Clarice – Jenna Renshaw , Mrs Van Hopper/Dr Baker – Margaret Robertson, Frank Crawley – Martyn Stanbridge, Beatrice – Amanda Waldy and Jack Favell – Guy Williams. 2005 Tour Details of Rebecca . 14 - 19 Feb at Edinburgh King's Theatre. 21 - 26 Feb at Southampton Mayflower Theatre. 28 Feb - 5 March at Milton Keynes Theatre. 7 - 12 March in London Camden Arts Centre. 14 - 19 March at Brighton Theatre Royal. 21 - 26 March at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. 28 March - 2 April at Glasgow Theatre Royal. 4 April - 9 April at Stoke-on-Trent Regent Theatre. 11 - 16 April in London Richmond Theatre. 18 - 23 April at Woking New Victoria Theatre. 25 - 30 April Canterbury Marlowe Theatre. 2 May - 7 May Norwich Theatre Royal. UK Tour ends. Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. Theatre listings >
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