Theatre Review: Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
A Mermaids Production
St Andrews StAge, 24/11/2024-25/11/2024
Directed by Elise Siddiqui
Produced by Cal O'Neill and Rachel Kettlewood
Adapted for the stage by Charles Vance
Review by Mali Delargy
What always strikes me about Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is how it is set almost entirely indoors. Readers are trapped under layers of narration and time, together forming the lock and key that forces Heathcliff and Catherine away, upon the moors and far from each other. Elise Siddiqui’s theatrical rendition of Wuthering Heights brought the rugged Yorkshire countryside indoors and offered its audience a glimpse. The play was faithful to the passion of the novel, though perhaps the comic ‘Yorkshire Tea’ box that characterised her set is not …
The live orchestra was an impressive accompaniment to the on-stage action (compliments to Musical Director Eleanor White) and, combined with the creative use of red lamplight, set an atmosphere of brooding and anticipation. While the music did challenge the projection of the actors at times, it also helped tighten baggy moments between scenes where the audience was kept waiting for too long. This iciness, however, was easily thawed by the comedic presence of Lockwood (Ryan Cunningham) early in the play.
A thrilling surprise which I am sure impressed each member of the audience was the casting of Heathcliff (Ona Wright) as a woman. Wright’s stage presence erupted with the vindication and brooding of a mafia boss, an innovative take on the unpredictable Heathcliff, down to the suit and tie (thanks to costumer, Rachel Kettlewood). Wright’s eyes were a haunting presence on stage.
If I am to discuss the haunted eyes of Heathcliff, I must turn to who haunted him. Catherine’s (Eilidh Read) initial ghostly presence could not have been more contrasted by her possessive influence. Read’s performance insisted her audience be drawn towards Catherine, like Heathcliff, while being in full view of her manipulative, desperate, and at times, repulsive behaviour. Read’s Catherine was stubbornly immersive.
However, while Wuthering Heights is famous for its unromantic romance and the passions that go along with it, this aspect of the play was somewhat overwrought. I suspect this accounts for the snipping of the young Cathy scenes present in the novel, specifically the abduction scene. Keeping these in could have been useful in diluting the play’s strained dialogue and the actors’ obvious explosive urge for physical action. Actors tended to advance on each other to express rage or indignation but, left without intention or space, this would end in awkward collisions.
At these awkward moments, Nelly (Louise Windsor) and Joseph (Jack Dams) were thankfully at hand for some comic relief. Both prompted bursts of laughter from the audience throughout, be it their timely interjections or their comic demeanour. Both can be commended for their accents, which were studied and convincing. What I was particularly impressed by was Dams’ commitment to his stage presence, hunched and in character even when the lights were dimmed.
The play is a charming collaboration on a well-loved classic, and though rough around some of its edges, I would argue that this is in keeping with the themes of Brontë’s novel. I warmly encourage a trip to The StAge to shelter from the ‘wily, windy moors’ of reality (in the words of Kate Bush) and to get lost in the second performance of Elise Siddiqui’s Wuthering Heights.
