Minor characters come to fore in Bronte classic

AN immersive outdoor production of Wuthering Heights is bringing the spirit of the elements to Remenham.

Theatre company Midnight Circle Productions has taken Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel and created an ensemble piece, where some of the more minor characters have been given greater depth.

Director Nick Benjamin has
co-devised the adaptation along with members of the cast, who are all in their twenties or thirties.

He says: “Wuthering Heights is so much more than just a love story. It’s a story of passion, revenge, ghosts and past wrongs.

“Catherine and Heathcliff are not your conventional lovers, they are elemental, two fires on the verge of destroying each other.

“We haven’t gone too far away from the actual set text because that is when you start getting massive complaints from people going, ‘This is not Wuthering Heights’.

“However, it is such a big book and it’s such an in-depth narrative, there were certain bits that we had to leave out and others we wanted to bring in a bit more.

“We’re focusing on the idea of the moors being almost like a secondary character.

“The moors represent the spirit world to a certain degree and a lot of the cast, when they’re not on stage as a main character, take on the role of sort of an elemental moors spirit.

“Gothic horror is basically the foundation of this company as we have a massive love for it.

“But we’re also behind putting different spins on it and taking it out of the realms of what people might have seen on TV or in the cinema. It’s usually about giving characters who have very little time in the books their own fleshed-out back story.

“It’s sort of working out, while the main scenes are happening, what’s happened to the characters because they don’t just vanish and there’s obviously more of a story there.”

Nick, who plays Mr Lockwood as as well as directing, says the company felt the need to perform the story outdoors.

“A regular theatre space would have quashed the very nature of the piece,” he says. “I’ve seen quite a lot of reviews of other Wuthering Heights stage shows which said that it was very hard for them to be driven along on this story of nature when you were enclosed by four walls.”

Niamh Handley-Vaughan, who plays Catherine Earnshaw, adds: “The reason we wanted to do it outside is because nature is such an integral part of Wuthering Heights so it made sense.”

She is from Sonning Common and studied performing arts at The Henley College.

Niamh says: “We have a background in immersive theatre. This play isn’t particularly immersive but we welcome the audience to get involved and play along a little bit.”

Nadia Lamin, who plays Isabella Linton, spent her early years in Libya before moving to Henley at the age of 10. She went to Trinity Primary School, Gillotts School and The Henley College, where she also studied performing arts before going on to East 15 Acting School in Essex.

Nadia says: “We still have the plot points but it’s more of an ensemble show rather than two lead characters. We’re incorporating Greek chorus elements, so a lot of the characters in the show have multiple roles and when we’re not playing the characters named in the book, we’re playing like spirit nymphs almost.

“We love to use movement and we have worked with Gecko Theatre quite a lot on devising certain moments that aren’t just straight acting.”

The production will take place outside Remenham parish hall, the last stop of 13 on a UK tour, which have included castles, manor houses and gardens.

It is produced by Nick, Nadia, Niamh and Miles Blanch, who plays Edgar Linton.

Heathcliff is played by Renny Mendoza and the other cast members are Jacqueline Johnson (Nelly Dean), Oscar Mackie (Hindley Earnshaw), Sam Bird (Hareton Earnshaw) and Lara Deering (Cathy Linton).

The movement director is Tracey Collier, fight director Alfie Nugent, music director Miles Blanch, accent coach Ryan O’Grady and intimacy director Khushboo Shah.

There will be a pop-up bar selling drinks and refreshments and audience members are invited to follow the dress code of “nature spirits”.

The show is suitable for ages 16 and over and may include dark, frightening scenes. There are references to death throughout and scenes of violence and the supernatural.

The show has a running time of about two hours with an interval. Take your own seating, blankets and waterproofs in case of rain.

• Midnight Circle Productions presents Wuthering Heights at Remenham parish hall on Sunday, July 28 at 1pm and 6pm. Tickets cost £20. For more information and to buy tickets, email midnight
circletheatre@gmail.com or visit linktr.ee/midnightcircleproductions