Dramatist Rachel Wagstaff is quite right in saying “Birdsong
is in an incredibly powerful novel”. As a “literary novel”, it’s a haunting
piece set across different times and locations. Sadly, this adaptation does not
do the book full justice and leading inevitably to a disappointing theatrical
experience.
The Amiens pre-war scenes where Stephen Wraysford meets and
takes as a lover Isabelle Azaire lack credence and sexual charge. It was too
brief and never satisfying. Both this affair and the factory strike had great
dramatic possibilities – possibilities woefully squandered.
On the other hand, the visually stunning and superbly lit
Western Front episodes captured the tedium, the fear, and the comradeship of
soldiers living in death’s shadow Two years into the war and still there. Tim Treloar as Jack Firebrace,
the strong character, broke down as he learnt of his young son’s imminent
death. He obstinately prayed to a god that, in reality, had abandoned him. It
is an achingly heart-breaking moment. If only Isabelle (Sarah Jane Dunn) and
Stephen (Jonathan Smith) could have reached such heights.
Undoubtedly, it is hard to translate the power of a book. A
book is personal. This adaptation was an honest and valiant endeavour but I
personally found it, at times, deficient and unmoving. Sebastian Faulks who,
when approached about the possibility of dramatization replied, “Why try to
make a sculpture from a painting?” Maybe he had a point.
Birdsong is adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by
Sebastian Faulks.
Directed by Alastair Whatley | Stage adaptation by Rachel
Wagstaff
Brought to the stage by The Original Theatre Company
& Birdsong Productions Ltd
National Tour, 22nd January to 3rd August 2013
This review was written for and first published on The Flaneur website.
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