Ibsen’s 1886 play Rosmersholm is
rarely revived but in Duncan Macmillan’s masterful new adaptation we see how
remarkably relevant it remains. After the death of his wife, Rosmer’s ancestral
home lies dormant, her favourite room left to decay. Grief-stricken Rosmer (Tom
Burke) has withdrawn from society, relying on the company Rebecca West (Hayley
Atwell), his wife’s former companion. Their bond has grown strong and Rebecca
has shared her radical views with him, allowing him to see the possibility of a
world beyond the straight-laced, pious life he has lived in the dreary house he
has come to hate.
On the eve of an important election Rosmer reveals to his sternly
right-wing brother-in-law Kroll (Giles Terera) that he has lost his faith and
begun to see the potential for radical change. Kroll is horrified and threatens
to smear his name in the press if he comes out in favour of the
opposition. This is not the only time the
use of the press to manipulate popular opinion is alluded to. Kroll explains
that politics is too complex for the average working man and ‘so the papers
sell them a lie that it’s actually very simple. That it’s not about facts, it’s
about feelings’, and so ‘they get duped into voting against their own
interests.’ In the current polarized political state of Britain where emotion
has been ramped up to the extreme, this feels painfully pertinent for a play
written over a hundred years ago.
Rebecca is an intriguing character – confident, intelligent, and
holding herself to impossibly high standards, she is, as Kroll declares in
disgust a ‘liberated woman’. Women do not have the vote, are not expected to
take an interest in politics, and yet she can hold her own. Kroll may not like
it but he does recognize her power, threatening to publicly embroil her in
scandal.
The set design is beautifully realised. Rosmersholm gives the sense
of claustrophobia and stifling history. At the beginning of the play it is in
darkness, paintings covered but gradually it is brought back to life as Rebecca
encourages the light back in and adorns the room with flowers. We come to learn
of the importance of the building to the local community and the burden Rosmer
has always felt living there. Events within do not only concern its inhabitants
but all around it. This sense of being trapped in a system he can’t stand, the
responsibility of the family name and its dark history that he can’t convince
others to care about, ultimately lead him to distraction.
Rae Smith’s thoughtful designs create real atmosphere and extra
punch to the closing scene. Atwell’s Rebecca is composed yet capable of high
emotion. Wracked with guilt at the path events have taken, she is a troubled
character. Burke plays a conflicted John Rosmer and Terera is brilliant as
Kroll. An excellent production that is running until 20th July.
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