| Prepare to be transported to a world of allegory and curious beauty |
At Hijinx Theatre |
| Hijinx Theatre Company- Estella's Fire , Wales Millennium Centre , December 19, 2006 |
This was the final date of this very successful production that has been touring throughout Wales and England since September. Written by Hijinx recently appointed Associate Director, Louise Osborn it is a much more deeply layered play than the more straightforward narrative but nonetheless very moving dramas we have become accustomed to from the company.The author tells us, how in her childhood she revelled in the windswept flatlands, wild salty estuary marshes, vast expanses of sky and the smell of the sea in the Kentish landscape as she grew, like Estella, from girl into womanhood, Dickens’ country. Her disturbing story derived from Great Expectations may be set in the confines of the Havisham home, Satis House but it contains all the dark atmosphere of the landscape that surrounds it. The initial images of Caroline Bunce’s wracked and menacing Miss Havisham, with her whitened skin and crumbling wedding dress strongly disturb in the opening moments. The elements of the setting inspired by the work of Louise Bourgeois, Estella in her hooped skirt and fitted bodice completed the all-pervading air of mystery and enchantment that drew us all into and wondering at the story about to unfold. The robust singing of the very much down to earth maid, Lily May gave little comfort as she scrubbed and whammed the scenery around as the tale intensified. Estella is now approaching the borders of womanhood, Miss Havisham decision, that Estella needs a companion is by no means altruistic. A woman so damaged is not given to kindness in any form. Maybe it is to see her sick fantasy of watching children at play fulfilled or may be she has more devious and terrible motives. They all sit and play at cards but the young sensitive village boy soon falls for the coquettish Estella. The white lady’s plot is beginning to unfold but Estella’s feelings for the young man also start to flourish and she imagines escaping from the confines of her claustrophobic surroundings. Miss Havisham gives the girl a ruby and diamond necklace; the boy gives her a string with shells attached and other objects from the seashore giving her a smell of the life outside the great doors of Satis House. We are never really allowed to decide whether Estella will choose between her rich material surroundings or a life of her own, out in the world. The lights go out and we are still overwhelmed by mystery and frustration but we have been transported to a world of allegory and curious beauty and we leave wrapped in a cloud of intoxicating bemusement in contrast to the usual warm satisfaction of a Hijinx production. Louise Osborn’s script is a major contribution to this production as is the very fine acting of all the cast, Zoe Davies’ enigmatic Estella, Bunce’s beautifully decaying Havisham, the innocence of Stephen Hickman’s Pip and the licentiousness of the delightful Lizzie Rogan. The strength of some of the images was undermined by designer, Jane Linz Roberts, trade-mark wire mesh scenic elements and I felt that there was more strength and dynamism in the script than returning, usually hard-hitting director, Rosamunde Hutt was able to reveal. |
Reviewed by: Michael Kelligan |
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