Much is left unsaid in this frustraing back story of author George Elliot’s lifeRating
Good
Bird Gove is the home of Mary Ann Evans – otherwise known as one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era, George Elliot. This brand new play by Alexi Kaye Campbell focuses on the early years of her life before she begins writing her hugely successful novels. It tells the story of an extraordinarily bright young woman struggling to find her voice, while fighting for her independence in a society in which ‘all the stories’ are written ‘by a small pool of men’.
The first act focuses primarily on an evening when the family welcomes guests into their home. It is, at times, very funny – with enjoyable interplay between the avant-garde, modern voices of the era – Mary Ann and Mr and Mrs Bray – and the traditional voices of her ridiculous would-be suitor, Horace Garfield, her brother Isaac and father Robert. The second act is a much more serious affair, and deals with Mary Ann’s decision to reject religion, which leads to her estrangement from her father, and consequences which will go on to shape her entire future.
We learn she translates a German book (learning both German and Hebrew to do so) called ’The Life of Jesus Critically Examined’, which was considered scandalous in the strict religious circles of the times, further driving a wedge between herself and her family. There is a feeling that the play tells you frequently how precociously intelligent she is, but rarely allows the character to express it, and I feel this missed an opportunity to explore her intellectual rigour. The crux of the play is about a religious or philosophical disagreement, which is never explored in detail. Mary Ann is reunited with her father but has to make concessions to his strict beliefs. The play ends with a reading of his will, her mapping out her future, and a rather jarring visitation from one of the characters from her most famous book MiddleMarch.
There is so much to say about this extraordinary woman’s life, but, sadly, a lot of it remains unsaid in this play. I failed to connect emotionally with Mary Ann in Bird Grove despite the best efforts of Elizabeth Dulau, who gave a great performance and commanded the stage well. Owen Teale as Robert Evans was also good as the gruff father, but I felt his character, and that of Mary Ann’s brother Isaac (played by Jolyon Coy), lacked depth. The other women in the play are more real characters – Mary Ann’s tutor, Maria (played by Sarah Woodward), is warm and loving (and has excellent comic timing). Cara Bray (played by Rebecca Scroggs) is passionate and supportive.
It’s a challenge to portray a whole house on a stage, but the designer Sarah Beaton manages well with the help of a revolving stage, segmenting off rooms to corners or clusters of furniture. The staging rather fades into the background apart from a huge light box at the back, framed by enormous Victorian shutters, which is an effective and dramatic focal point. It is used brilliantly at the end of the first half when snow from a blizzard enters the house.
The play is about the promise of a nascent writer and an extraordinary thinker. But we only really see, in the final scene, a glimpse of this unusual and brilliantly creative woman. The rest is a slightly frothy back story. The farce and humour of the first half sit uncomfortably with Mary Ann’s decision to turn her back on the traditional and find a radical new path. Sadly, Bird Grove feels like it finishes where it should start.
Writer: Alexi Kaye Campbell
Director: Anna Ledwich
Designer: Sarah Beaton
Production Manager: Tom Nickson
Lighting Designer: Matt Haskins
Sound Designer & Composer: Harry Blake
Co-Composer: Clare Pople
Costume Supervisor: Chantal Short
Voice & Dialect Coach: Michaela Kennen
Bird Grove plays at The Hampstead Theatre until Saturday March 21
