|
Breakfast with Emma
by Fay Weldon Based on the novel Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert Directed by Helen Tennison Design James Perkins Lighting Sally Ferguson Rosemary Branch Theatre March 11-April 9 2009
I
A review by Rosie Fiore for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Madam Bovary is a tricky old novel to read in the modern day. Is it a feminist treatise about a woman who struggles to break the bonds of her class and sex? A case history of a classic manic depressive? Is it a tragedy? Or a cautionary tale about what happens when you get above your station? For those not familiar with the novel, Madam Bovary tells the story of beautiful, convent-educated Emma, a prosperous farmer’s daughter, who marries a provincial doctor. Very quickly, she bores of her mundane life, and her fantasies eventually spill into a series of doomed adulterous affairs. She also runs up a monstrous debt. When the creditors close in, her lovers have deserted her and she realises there is no escape, she commits suicide by eating handfuls of arsenic. Her death is prolonged, ugly and painful. Legendary writer Fay Weldon wrote this adaptation, which she describes as “variations on a theme of Flaubert’s Madam Bovary. In the programme notes, she confesses her own fascination with the book, describing Emma Bovary as “poor, brave, restless, ever romantic, shopaholic Emma, tragic, trusting and betrayed.” That strikes me as a very sympathetic reading of a difficult character: Emma in the book (and the play), is self-obsessed to the point of mania, capricious, disloyal and unkind. Many might say she is entirely the instrument of her own destruction. Weldon’s play takes place on a single day, the last of Emma’s life. It is a scene which does not exist in the original novel: Emma and her husband Charles sit down for breakfast and gradually, she confesses her crimes to him, before departing upstairs to end her life. In the book, Emma commits suicide without Charles having any knowledge of what has tormented her. It isn’t until after her death, when he discovers letters from one of her lovers that he grasps what she has done. In choosing to write this breakfast conversation, Weldon seems almost to turn Emma’s death into a Greek tragedy. From the beginning, she talks about arsenic and tells us she is going to kill herself. If we know the book, we know she is telling the truth. There is a kind of inevitability to the story: as the confessions mount, we are drawn closer to the moment we know must come. As Emma and Charles’ conversation is the central thread, Fliss Walton and James Burton carry the majority of the play. Walton as Emma veers between conciliation, desperation and hysteria as she confesses: truly a woman at the end of her tether. Burton’s Charles begins the play as a self-satisfied, pompous and condescending man who loves his wife although he clearly doesn’t understand her at all. He ends it a broken man, revolted, disbelieving, but still unable to help her. They are ably assisted by a supporting cast who play all the characters in Emma’s retelling. A quick glance at the bios of the actors shows that between them they have considerable physical theatre experience. And indeed, the staging, in the tiny space at the Rosemary Branch is nothing short of inspired. As we move into the realms of memory, characters pop out of the sideboard, cupboards, the floor. They ascend ladders and dance in and out of the fireplace. Only Emma herself, trapped in a large, stiff gown, seems earthbound. Ambient sound effects and music add to the tension. It’s always difficult for performers to encourage suspension of disbelief in these tiny pub theatres, but this energetic company weaves a persuasive spell. It’s a fascinating response to a challenging story, and special performances over the next few weeks will give you the opportunity to debate it with the cast, director and Weldon herself. Definitely worth a trip to this enchanting little theatre (and pub) in Islington.
Tuesday - Friday 7.30pm Rosemary Branch Theatre www.rosemarybranch.co.uk/breakfast-with-emma/ 24 hour Box Office 020 7704 6665 SPECIAL PERFORMANCES Meet Fay Weldon on 15th March 6.30pm and 21st March 2.30pm and 6.30pm. All tickets £20.00 - including a glass of wine and post show discussion with the writer, director and cast.
Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved
|
zes