Wuthering Heights

As a classic comes to the stage, Susannah Radford sees if it matches Kate Bush.

★★★

Article by Susannah Radford | 08 Nov 2008

Outside the weather-beaten wooden boards of the Wuthering Heights exterior the wind whistles across the bleak landscape of the Yorkshire moors; inside it's just as frosty as the new tenant Lockwood seeks shelter in his landlord's home and stumbles upon the story of the ill-fated lovers Heathcliff and Cathy.

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company's Wuthering Heights is a solid production though lacking a little in spark; the story is a passionate one but there is a definite lack of dramatic tension, despite the tempestuous tempers of the two main characters. This is mostly due to the translation of the novel from page to the stage. True to Bronte's classic, it includes the story of both generations but while this provides redemption and resolution to the story there is no real climax to the play. The use of a narrator is also problematic. Nelly's (Susannah York) relationship with Lockwood (Simon Coates) is nicely drawn with moments of humour but the narrative interruptions as she retells the story even out the pace and dull the dramatic tension.

The moors provide the ideal landscape against which this love story is played out. Represented by the constant sound of wind in the background, the elements in turn seem to feed the emotional turmoil of the main characters. Cathy's yearning for Heathcliff is evident in Amanda Ryan's voice; she seems to draw out the vowel sounds, punctuating the air with longing. There is a moving moment as Antony Byrne's Heathcliff pines after her ghost at the window. Individually their passion is strong, but combined it just doesn't quite take flight.

What lifts this production from the ordinary are the moments of humour, often provided by Lockwood, a pretentious buffoon of a man reminiscent of Jane Austen's Mr Collins, and the foppish Edgar and his waspish sister Isabella (Toby Dantzic and Emma Noakes). It's also elevated out of the storytelling realm by the moments of theatricality. Cathy's ghost knocking at the window begging to be let in, her white nightgown billowing in the wind, highlights the other-worldliness inherent in the story, as does the clever way of showing the soul leaving the body at death.