The Dispute @ Summerhall

Four empty doorways stand vacant, a monitor sits atop a transparent glass torso, patiently facing its audience: ‘The stage is set for a very curious spectacle.’

The spectacle in question is a heavily modernised version of Pierre de Marivaux’s 1744 The Dispute. For those unfamiliar with the premise, the play opens with a seemingly archaic video sequence outlining the question that drives the narrative: who was the first to be unfaithful, man or woman? The answer is to be determined via a scientific experiment; its method to recreate the Garden of Eden, raising four teenagers in isolation before introducing them to their sexual counterparts. We join the action at day 6570 – and the teenagers are about to be released.

Emily Kempson’s fresh adaptation at first appears to be an intriguing social investigation but soon descends into familiar stereotype. Upon introduction the females show each other jealousy and contempt while the men bang their chests and wrestle, demonstrating their masculinity through stylised physicality. The dizzying eroticism of Marivaux’s original seems lost in what transpires as a careful and unassertive narrative, often slow-moving and tentative with little erotic charge.

However, the direction and design make efforts to repair the damage, the symmetrical, minimalist stage believable as a controlled utopia, complete with obligatory blue sky and clear stream. Characters explore their surroundings with childlike delight, their innocence and exaggeration adding a certain charm and endearment to the production.

The cast are young and talented, but they bear the burden of unremarkable dialogue and a safe narrative trajectory. Traditionally, The Dispute benefits from a little grit, and although Kempson’s adaptation is indeed original it appears to have forgotten Marivaux’s intent.