Wuthering Heights

I was excited to be making my first visit to Norwich School, located within a beautiful, relaxed setting in the shadow of the magnificent Norwich Cathedral. A warm welcome was received as I took my seat in the Blake Studio, for the Emma Rice 2021 adaption of Wuthering Heights.

The set was simple, a white cloth background cut to form the Wuthering Heights building, to provide entrance and exit points for the cast, with small tree branches suspended to give the on the Yorkshire Moor setting. Lighting was used to particularly beneficial effect to reflect the ever-changing mood of the weather on the moors. The Stage was placed centre, with the audience being surrounded on three sides, to produce a very intimate and close-up view of the performance.

This version is all about the cast and moves at a lighting place to tackle the complex characters, social class, love, revenge, tragedy, death, and supernatural themes contained within Emily Brontë’s classic. The ensemble in this piece become part of “The Moor,” bringing it alive in the narration of the story and through song and dance, with the story presented as a flashback. I was very impressed with the synchronicity with which the entire cast of 20 delivered the play, which seemed to go by very quickly and captivate the audience. Some of the scenes requiring confrontation certainly did not hold back and were very physical. There was the odd moment when projection caused one or two lines to be lost, particularly when a cast member had their back to the audience, but this did not detract from what was an excellently produced piece of Theatre from Director Eva Wright and Assistant Director/ Choreographer Charlotte Wyndham.

Hal Newman opened proceedings with a confident portrayal of Lockwood, trying to escape from a storm on the moors, only to be confronted by a surly and haunted Heathcliff (Tom Hardy). Tom’s portrayal perfectly captured the tormented character, switching effortlessly to the innocent and soft-spoken Heathcliff found homeless and adopted by the Earnshaw’s. Louis Baker’s Hindly Earnshaw, dismissing and bullying Heathcliff on arrival, was very well done, ultimately becoming a lonely and isolated figure himself after the death of wife Frances, very charismatically played by Sophie Millington.

A lot of the humour was well delivered by Charlie Collier as Dr Kenneth, trying to keep up with all the deaths (I think I counted 7) and seriously ill patients that he serves. Daisy Sexton and Lev Oyelakin warmly portrayed Isabella and Edgar Linton. Florence Knowles’s performance as Young Cathy, particularly in Act Two, was impressive, captivating the audience as she transforms from being headstrong and unfriendly into becoming gentle and her eventual love for Hareton Earnshaw (Magnus Valpied). Further notable performances came from Beth Stevens as Mrs Earnshaw, and Iris Bellingall as Little Linton.

Finally, Rosie Burton, who interpreted the complex character of Catherine superbly throughout the play, was outstanding.

Thank you to The Performing Arts Team and all at Norwich School for a very enjoyable evening,

 

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