As part of its UK tour, Leo Owen catches an exciting new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities in The Quarry Theatre
MARLOWE Theatre company's new adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic honours his celebrated opening lines: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", illustrating extreme divisions in the societies the story seeks to capture. In opening with these lines, adapters Terence Rattigan and John Gielgud pay homage to Dickens while establishing the contemporary mood in both Georgian England and revolution ridden France.
From the chaos and discontent, an unusual love story blooms as both Charles Darnay (Ed Sayer) and Sydney Carton (Samuel Collings) fall for Lucie Manette (Jordan Loughran), a love that will both save and destroy. Director Michael Fentiman has cast fluently switching between French and English, using subtitles above the stage to aid audience understanding and ensure the play's dual settings are authentically represented. Further projections move the narrative in time with years and time frames displayed upstage.
Max Jones' set design is sparse using a central wooden platform framed by neon lighting and minimal props - interestingly, no guillotine in sight. Most notable, and starkly contrasting, is the later addition of a decadently adorned dining table where discussion of the French Revolution's foundation cleverly provides the audience with the necessary contextual information.
Rattigan and Gielgud skilfully extract and cohesively knit together key scenes from Dickens' work to speed up the story and ramp up the tension, boasting a faster pace than its source material. Despite covering an epic timescale and having a slightly drawn-out conclusion, this truncated adaptation is truly captivating with powerful whole ensemble performances, and some cast ably moving between character parts.
Both thrilling and moving, Marlowe Theatre give Dickens' tale a new lease of life.
A Tale of Two Cities shows at Leeds Playhouse September 22-26-before continuing its tour: https://marlowetheatre.com/blog/marlowe-theatre-announces-cast-and-uk-tour-dates-for-a-tale-of-two-cities/
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