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Few adaptations of famous novels can have enjoyed such immediate and lasting success as Rebecca.  With this production BAWDS showed us just how enduring that appeal is, for this was a treat of an evening.  This production was very much the sum of its parts for every aspect contributed to its effectiveness and memorability – the strength of the performances, the assured direction, the striking stage design and wardrobe, imaginative lighting and perfectly matched sound, indeed down to individual properties and the programme itself.  Attention to detail paying off handsomely indeed.

It is worth recalling that two of the principal characters are never seen, namely Rebecca herself, of course, and the sea.  In the novel, and here on stage, the sea is a subtly menacing presence and this for me was one of the evening’s triumphs.  The play opened strongly, driven in particular by Steph Hamer’s pacy and admirably strident Beatrice Lacy, and we were drawn immediately into the action.  Mike Milne, as Giles Lacy, had some richly comic moments (not least of all when dressed for the ball) and David Brown’s Frith was a very well-judged adjunct to the various visitors and comings and goings at Manderley.  He seemed perfectly suited to his environs.  So too did Alice, Catherine and Robert (Christine Easterfield, Katie Charles and David Hazelhurst); often appearing to be part of the background. Deftly handled.

By the time the principals appeared we were very well set in the milieu.  Frank Crawley (Colin Laurence) provides a vital link to the Rebecca era at Manderley and his striking performance was etched with wistful memory of happier, easier times.  It fell to Angela Chatterton, as the redoubted Mrs Danvers, to bring Manderley’s brooding past into the present, a task she achieved with formidable skill.  When Maxim and Mrs (notably bereft of a Christian name) de Winter reach Manderley we are ready for things to be less than easy, and so they prove.  Both Julian Cooper and Alexandra Fye made these complex characters, with their shallowly-rooted marriage, come fully to life.  Very strong individual performances combining to form a wholly convincing, ill-matched and, surely, fated couple.  They both deserve great credit for maintaining our fascination in what is, by modern standards at least, a play that is overlong by perhaps as much as half an hour.

The irrepressibly caddish Jack Favell (a gift of a part, duly and admirably seized upon by Guy Holmes) adds a further note of discord to the plot.  Hugh Mellor and Rosemary Eason (Colonel and Mrs Julyan) brought their considerable talents to the latter stages of the play – indeed, Colonel Julyan adds to the enigma at the close itself.  To what extent he is complicit in any “cover up” is uncertain but may certainly be surmised.  Both Sandra Bimie (Mrs Fortescue-Coleman) and Andrew Shepherd (William Tabb) added further assured realism to the storyline and in particular to the denouncement.

The deft hand of the director, Lyn Chatterton, was visible throughout and the naturalism and conviction of the story owed huge amounts to her.  Once again, a feast for the eye and a triumph of invention too, Tony Broscomb’s set was another huge contributor to this undoubted success.  The individual costumes were so well suited to the characters as to be almost taken for granted – the sure sign of lots of very hard work at the planning and execution stages.  Further congratulations to Ed Hopkins, Graham Potter and tireless efficient Penguins.

What a way to mark the splendidly revamped ADC Theatre.  All involved should be reflecting on a very fine close to the BAWDS’ 2008 season – another feather in their cap indeed.

Visit the BAWDS group record for more information about this group.