Liza Mclean & Andrew Kay Present a National Theatre, Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic & York Theatre Royal Co-Production
Grungy and gritty, this Wuthering Heights is both tragic and joyous whilst being a unique adaptation for Australian audiences
Reviewed by Justin Clarke
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney
Until 15th February, 2025
Tickets: https://wutheringheightsaustralia.com/
Type: Adaptation, Classic, Romance, Play with Songs
If you liked: Pride and Prejudice, Warhorse, Hadestown
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights gets a grungy, earthy retelling in this touring production by London’s National Theatre as audiences are treated to a unique form of storytelling that echoes with love, lust and death. It seems at the moment that Brontë is having her brat era resurgence in popular culture with biopic films being released, and new takes on Wuthering Heights being in production with controversial casting. The National Theatre continues this trend with an adaptation brought to visceral life by award-winning director Emma Rice.
Rice infuses the piece with its inherent Gothic Romance, but explores the tragedy found in the wake of each character’s loss and cruelty. In Heathcliffe (John Leader) she sees an unaccompanied minor taken in with kindness by the wealthy Mr. Earnshaw, but never fully at ease or accepted by the wealth of Wuthering Heights, except of course by Catherine as their childhood love blossoms in adulthood. The electric chemistry between Heathcliffe and Catherine (Stephanie Hockley) turns carnal as the cruelty that echoes around them from the unnatural romance takes deathly shape.
This is grand storytelling told with a rugged physicality and literary aesthetic. Books on long sticks flap as birds across the stage, with Brontë’s word projected at the start and end of the production. Costuming by Vicki Mortimer conveys each character’s status, youth or personality. The Moors branch infused crown is littered with feathers and growing moss, while their jacket is decorated with brooches, and pins of wildlife animals. Heathcliffe’s first attempt at status sees him don a tribal necklace, separating himself from the posh upper class stiffness of the British, whilst the spoiled childish Linton (a hilarious Rebecca Collingwood) is adorned with disgusting pastels of green and pink pageantry.
Heathcliffe is an enigma of a character, and Rice by no means seeks to solve him. It’s clear that Rice recognises Brontë’s deliberate lack of backstory for him in her adaptation, instilling in Heathcliffe both a symbol of the colonised under-class of the British Empire, and the revenge inflicted by those who are ‘othered’ for the entirety of their lives. But Catherine, in this production, is just as enigmatic as her romantic counterpart. Hockley’s portrayal is playful and cruel to the aristocracy surrounding her as she toys with “being a woman” of her class, and the animalistic desire for Heathcliffe – a man below her status. It’s a subtle, but strong example of a feminist take for an outdated situation.
Rice weaves throughout the warning, “be careful what you seed”, as she harnesses the elements of a Greek Tragedy to form The Moors (lead by Nandi Bhebhe) as a chorus telling the story, interacting with the characters, pulling each in the direction of hope and love. But fate, revenge and fear are all outside of their grasp as each are destined to the pages of Brontë’s pen.
The notion of death is played with throughout, always bringing the audience back to it when seeds of cruelty are planted. Puppetry is used to create hounds with dog skulls placed on the end of scythes, TJ Holmes’ Doctor Kenneth is comical relief and in itself purposefully lacks the weight of his profession in this era, and Catherine is an omnipresent being who sits and watches, tapping on windows through dripping mascara in the second act.
…audiences, artists, creatives, actors and performance makers need to see this production
Brontë herself was born into an era shrouded in death and disease. The Victorian period was a dramatic landscape where the daily realities of infection, dirt, disease, and death were ever prevalent, and here we see it weaved into the many deaths of Wuthering Heights. The cyclical performance of the passing of life by crows flying past on the large back screen and a name written in chalk passing the stage becomes an ingrained inevitability of the piece.
As for the musical elements, this is not so much a musical as it is a play with songs. Whereas a musical would have Ian Ross’ composition used to move the storyline forward, the songs are instead utilised to portray emotions, emphasise relationships, or reiterate the warnings by the chorus of The Moors. Catherine’s show stopping explosion of defiance against her role as a wife is Janet Joplin in sound, and grunge rock in aesthetic, the chorus reminiscent of Hadestown’s fates as they mimic and dance around her to Jai Morjaria’s sensory overload of punchy lights.
The elements of the production are at first jarring as the style of theatre – reflective of the National Theatre’s voracious variety for theatrical artistry – seems unfamiliar on the Roslyn Packer stage. Home to the Sydney Theatre Company, these areas of Sydney are usually dripping with funding from intricately crafted set pieces, or monochromatic brightly lit sets that are vast in size and scale, or mashing together the worlds of cinema and theatre. In short, we just don’t make productions like this here in Australia, and therein lies the need for audiences, artists, creatives, actors and performance makers to see this production.
Theatre Thought: How does love and hope persevere if one is constantly ‘othered’ their entire life?
CAST
John Leader – Heathcliff
Stephanie Hockley – Catherine
Sam Archer – Lockwood/Edgar Linton
Rebecca Collingwood – Isabella Linton/Linton Heathcliff
Matthew Churcher – Hindley Earnshaw/Hareton Earnshaw
Nandi Bhebhe – Leader of the Moors
Stephanie Elstob – Zillah
Thomas Fox – Mr Earnshaw
TJ Holmes – Dr Kenneth
Robyn Sinclair – Frances Earnshaw/Young Cathy
Frederick Double – Robert
Sid Goldsmith – Musical Director/guitar
Sheldon King – Bass Guitar
Alex Lupo – percussion
CREATIVES
Director & Adaptor Emma Rice
Composer Ian Ross
Set & Costume Designer Vicki Mortimer
Sound & Video Designer Simon Baker
Lighting Designer Jai Morjaria
Movement Director & Choreographer Etta Murfitt
Associate Choreographer Nandi Bhebhe
Puppetry Director John Leader
Fight Director Kev Mccurdy
Music Director Pat Moran
Associate Director Laura Keefe
Costume Supervisor Anna Lewis
