ATONEMENT

From the opening moments of this incredible production it is abundantly obvious that this is Chichester Festival Theatre at the top of the game. I read Ian McEwans novel Atonement when it was first published in 2001 but had been a lover of his work from reading The Cement Garden in 1978. It was fearless writing, dark and yet utterly real and when the film version of Atonement was released in 2007 I was for once impressed by how well a novel could be taken from page to screen. I should of course have known that in the hands of Christopher Hampton  the book was safe, and now, again in his skilful hands that book has be taken to the stage.

It’s no mean feat that a work of fiction that scans so many years and so wide a geographical canvas can be done so convincingly and for that we have to thank a brilliantly cohesive creative team. Anthony Ward’s very graphic set is able to do just what is required, simplicity and elegance collide in a way that allows time and space to shift seamlessly. A spiral staircase rises behind a shuttered enclosure giving rooms that can overlook the action, action that shifts from the gardens of the country house, to the battlefields of Northern France and beaches of Normandy.

Andrzej Goulding’s beautiful video projections work so well, finely drawn employing a palette of sepia tones and well crafted animation, they have real artistry and, whether employed or not, no sense of the demon AI. Combined with Aideen Malone’s subtle lighting this is a visual feast for the eyes.

In the opening moments I was taken by surprise by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite’s score, it felt shockingly modern, but within minutes I was taken by how effective it was, judiciously placed and paced, themes shifting to atmospheric soundscape and then back. This was strikingly an integral part of the whole, Ben Wright’s movement and intimacy direction, Kate Water’s action consulting… this is ensemble work at its finest and the whole assuredly directed by Adam Penford. All too often that directorial challenge for capturing the sense of time and place goes un-noticed or un-applauded but even before getting to the cast and their part in the whole, this production deserves to be heaped with praise.

On then to that cast and again a fine ensemble who populate a story that at its centre has three important characters. Briony Tallis, 13, precocious and entitled, she is the core of the tale and her actions as a child fuel the whole. Isabella Dempster is quite simply perfect in the role, whether as child or woman.

Her older sister Cecilia Tallis is played by Miriam Petche, and played with such style and elegance, shifting from confident modern woman to distraught wronged lover so convincingly.

Robbie Turner, the wronged cuckoo in the Tallis nest is brought to life by Jasper Talbot with an extraordinary balance of energy and reserve and bringing to the stage the same sexuality that he gave to his Mick Jagger in Redlands in 2024.

The entire company deliver solid performances, and Jessica Turner stepping into the role of the older Briony delivers those final revealing speeches with class.

Atonement is a play about remorse but also it is a play about writing, from that opening moment of a typewriter in a pinpoint light, to the eventual revelations of what has been delivered as fact but is indeed fiction.

A very short season strangely for a piece of theatre that should be seen by all lovers of dramatic artistry.

Andrew Kay

5 June

Chichester Festival Theatre

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