Classic novels and circus are not two things that most people consider in relation to each other. Ockham’s Razor and Turtle Key Arts are here to change that with their powerful new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s beloved text, Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Hardy’s incredibly physical and vivid novel, so concerned with the body, lends itself perfectly to their physical theatre approach. Tess is a harmonious mix of movement pieces and dialogue, brilliantly co-directed by Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey, and executed by a very talented company of performers.
Tess, unlike its source material, is told to us by Tess herself. The play begins with a reenactment of her hanging, although those who have not read the novel might not immediately realise it. Tess, played by Anna Crichlow – the only non-acrobat in the cast – then begins the story of how she ended up in this predicament. She is the only character that speaks, giving voice to every other performer. Crichlow has a very strong stage presence, making us laugh at her impersonation of Tess’ inoffensive, drunk father as much as we shiver at her proclamations of innocence: “I do not deserve it”. In a very creative sequence at the opening of the performance, the four other female cast members stand in a row excitedly looking at Crichlow, who then selects Lila Naruse to play herself. From that moment on, although Crichlow sometimes participates in the ensemble, Naruse is Tess’ body and Crichlow exists outside of the narrative, narrating to the audience. Questions of memory and storytelling are then centred in a different way than they are in the original text.
The set of Tess, created by Tina Bicât, is minimalist but incredibly evocative. It consists essentially of a set of planks, a table, a large pallet-like wooden structure and large swathes of white cloth that sometimes evoke the laundry hanging in the interior of the D’Urberville house and at others a forest of trees. The set is shaped by the actors who transform it on stage, at one point even using the planks to construct the skeleton of a house. However, one of the strongest set moments is undoubtedly the use of planks to depict Tess’ travels. Naruse climbs and slides down planks lifted by the ensemble to simulate her journey through the hills of British countryside.
Other remarkable moments – eliciting gasps from audience members – combined the brilliance of the set with that of the choreography. At the beginning of the play, Tess sets off to the D’Urberville manor on the family horse, Prince. This posed obvious staging difficulties. Using a very simple, cloth-based horse head, held up by a number of actors, the company creates a believable horse which Tess mounts. This is a moment of unbelievably well-executed movement; it is the physicality of the actors that sells it.
Lighting (Aideen Malone), sound (Holly Khan) and video projection (Daniel Denton) are also key to the performance, particularly when it comes to representing scenes of violence. Tess’ rape by Alec Durberville, played by the very talented Joshua Frazer, was always going to be difficult to depict on stage. In the novel itself, Hardy makes the scene deliberately obscure. Mooney and Harvey found a perfect solution to this issue: Tess is asleep, the lights dim but the forest screen projection continues, Alec creeps towards Tess and there is a flash of red lighting accompanied by a sudden burst of violent music. There is nothing graphic about the scene, but its violence is conveyed in full force. Similarly, the death of Prince – the horse – is extremely well-choreographed. A series of ensemble members move with spikes towards the sleeping Tess on her horse, then lights flash red as the spikes come into contact with the horse that reels back with a frightened Tess, freezing for a moment.
Directed by Charlotte Mooney and Alec Harvey
Cast Includes: Anna Crichlow, Lila Naruse, Joshua Frazer, Nat Whittingham, Lauren Jamieson, Victoria Skillen, Leah Wallings
Until Thursday 6th of March
Running Time: 2h 20 mins with an interval
Photo Credits: Kie Cummings