Rebecca

I so wanted to experience the magic that Kneehigh created in their production of Brief Encounter that perhaps my expectations were… well shall we say above knee high. In that they lovingly re-created the period, the manners and gently spoofed the genre. In Rebecca nothing could be further from the truth. The marvelous opening scene showed so much promise, a wonderful set, eerie music and soundscape… and then so much silliness. Characters were  pantomimic, the business was busy and repetitive, to many window gags and too much dog, way to much dog, I wanted Jasper to be put down – humanely.
The cast are strong, the set is strong – and let’s face it the story is very strong as is the film but not in this weird concoction that lurches between farce and Hammer horror. I suspect that if you had never seen the film or indeed read the book, both of which I have, that you might have enjoyed a fun night at the theatre. For those of us who have I cannot help feeling that at best you would be disappointed – and at worst furious.
So where should the blame lie? I lay it firmly with the direction and an ill conceived idea. How was I to believe in the dark Mrs Danvers when she appears in a silly dance routine at the start of act two, grinning like a loon! Why was it necessary to turn Beatrice and Giles into a comedy double act with drunken buffoonery and even Wilson, Keppel and Betty’s sand dance – please no! I want my Beatrice tight lipped, snooty and dry, my Giles a bungling upperclass snob with a soft side, not some pared down version of the Thenardiers in Les Mis!  As for making it “Cornish” – well it felt about as Cornish as a Greg’s pasty.
There were of course moments of classic theatrical magic, darkness, sinister moments that had me praying that there would not be another shanty or dog scene – but I was to be disappointed – over and over again. Rebecca is a wonderful and dark novel, the film a classic of its type – adding silliness and song turned into into a farce – and not in a good way.
Theatre Royal Brighton
28 September
Andrew Kay
2 stars