REVIEW: THE LADY WITH A DOG at Upstairs at the Gatehouse 13 Sept – 8 Oct 2023

‘Innovative direction by Mark Giesser and the cast must be complimented on their performance’ ★★★★★ 

Though this is a play adapted from a short story written in 1899 Mark Giesser has done an excellent job of lifting the Anton Chekhov original and placing it deftly into the 1920s. References to World War One may have been unavoidable and obvious but a large and useful amount of research has gone into picking out popular songs of the age, amongst other things, to give it an authentic feel. More obscure was the fact that Berwick was a seaside resort in the 1920s.

Perhaps more well known was the German name change of the monarch, the same predicament Carl Dennis (Toby Manley) finds himself in. Forced to change his name to fit in at the onset of the war he is given a convenient excuse for skulking out of the war in a cushy desk job. Indeed, Carl was very adept at dodging an issue and there was evidence to show that he was in denial about his wife’s affair.

Is it that Chekhov picks up on and over emphasises a person’s worst trait that makes aspects of his plays a little uncomfortable to stomach sometimes? In his defence, the points that strike true may often be the ones we identify with ourselves. Others might have seen Carl as naive and trusting and a man who wants to see the best in everyone. Nevertheless, Chekhov is an expert at picking out these details in a person and the whole cast were equally expert in showing them to us.

This play concluded with a summary of the characters’ take on each of their own codependent relationships. Reflecting some archetypal viewpoints and prejudices of the times. This witty play was met with laughter from the start when one or two older men in the audience found chauvinistic sexist comments from Damian funny, while most of the rest of us fell deadly silent.

Others will have identified more readily with suggestions of female freedom expressed by Anne (Beth Burrows).  By holidaying alone without her husband for the first time, Anne attempts to be a ‘liberated woman’ who can now do what she wants and with whoever she wants. Prompted by the spirit of the age where women over 21 would soon be allowed to vote. But bound by common feelings when her first sojourn ends in infidelity and guilt. She is conflicted between that ‘freedom’ and the label of a ‘tart’ which we find later has taken her several years to overcome before she feels comfortable with her affair.

References to Freud, who wrote all his books after the original story was written, were cleverly woven into this analysis of character and relationships.  Basic instincts and the subconscious versus the rationality of a person struggling with the psychological social confines of the age were to be seen at every turn.

The ‘Player’ Damian Granville brilliantly portrayed by Richard Lyson, not as extreme as a cad, or so he tells us, was in the end only wanting to be in love again. War having been the most intense experience of his life he seeks excitement in an affair. Though this may not quite give us a glimpse of a condition tragically affecting many soldiers after the war and unnoticed at that time. His behaviour, PTSD may be too strong a diagnosis for Damian, was however affected. He was certainly no longer as comfortable as he had previously been with his marriage and there must have been something that caused it. There is the alternative view that he was always a philanderer and that Elaine (Laura Glover), playing the part of the subservient housewife just put up with it. And that he was lying through his teeth when he told Anne that this was his first affair.

Elaine, passive aggressive, witty and sarcastic, was always trying to ‘put on a show’ and ‘keep her chin up’ in spite of her present situation. And Laura Glover did a splendid job of showing how Elaine struggled stoically with her husband’s change, while all the time outwardly living up to the way she believes society expects her to behave within the confines of her marriage. And hoping some day she would have her husband back.

As well as being very well performed, the subdued colours of the costumes contrasted well against the vivid picture postcard backdrop. Again, taking us straight back to the twenties.

The innovative directing by Mark Giesser had the characters, that were not at the resort, on stage, as thoughts in the heads of the two who were.  A great idea, used well to facilitate set changes and prop movement.  And they all really must be complimented on this performance.

Read our interview with actress Beth Burrows here

Photography: Flavia Fraser-Cannon

The Lady With A Dog

Presented by Alces Productions

19 Sep 2023 until 8 Oct 2023

Upstairs At The Gatehouse

Box Office https://upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173644847/events/428599262

Written and directed by Mark Giesser    Assistant directed by Isaac Bernier-Doyle

Choreography by Xena Gusthart        Set design by Intellectual Propery           

Lighting design by Sam M Owen           Costume design by Alice McNicholas     

Stage management by Denisha Parmenter

Cast

Beth Burrows, Laura Glover, Richard Lynson, Toby Manley

Reviewed by Robert McLanachan