DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS. Written by Eugene O’ Neill. Adapted by Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer. Directed by Fred Abrahamse, with Robin Smith, Marcel Meyer and Mbali Bloom. Set and lighting Fred Abrahamase. Costumes Marcel Meyer. Composer Charl Johan Lingenfelder. At Baxter Theatre until July 26. TRACEY SAUNDERS reviews
IN THE well-researched and extensively detailed programme notes which have become somewhat of a trademark of the Abrahamse & Meyer production team, the strange coincidence of O’Neill’s links to South Africa make for interesting reading.
The playwright’s fascination with South Africa and frequent references which appear in his plays (most notably in The Iceman Cometh) were sparked by James Blyth, his father’s publicist, whom the younger O’Neill befriended.
O’Neill was so intrigued by the country that he attempted to enter via the port of Durban in 1909 but was denied entry. O’Neill’s are not the first American playwright’s works that Abrahamse has adapted for the local stage and his productions of works by Tennessee Williams have received critical acclaim both locally and in the US.
While remaining true to the essence of the piece, the setting has been adapted from the original in New England to the Eastern Cape in 1899. The theme of desire explored in the original text is expanded and in addition to the corporeal yearning in the original, there is a sense of a hunger for land and a keen yen for belonging, a home of sorts.
As the production opens to an eerie aural backdrop and the shadows of the title elms are projected on to the stage walls, there is a portent of the “oceans of trouble”. A sense of foreboding is omnipresent and even when the wedding is being celebrated off-stage with joyous frivolity a dark mood envelops the stage. Eprahim Cabot (Robin Smith) is the cantankerous and somewhat lecherous widower. He returns to his farm with a young bride; a very young bride, much to the initial disgust of his youngest son Eben.
In this adaptation only Eben appears and some of the dialogue set for the two elder sons, Simeon and Peter, in the original text is truncated. Eben’s composite character of the young heir apparent and the bitter elder sons is a complex one. Meyers holds the characteristics ably and is at times a young boy mourning the loss of his mother and moments later a young man contemptuous of his father and desirous of his father’s new wife. He succeeds in invoking both pity and disgust.
Eprahim refers to his son as being “soft and simple” like his mother and it this quality of tenderness that Abbie is drawn to. For Eprahim hardness is a virtue, softness is seen as a vice and he despises his youngest son. Eben, however, shows steely resolve when he contemplates avenging his mother. He rests the blame for her death at the door of his father and he is consumed with bitterness and a desire for revenge. It seems almost inevitable that the young couple embark upon an affair during which Abbie falls pregnant.
Their coupling, the birth of a child and the subsequent events borrow much from the Greek tragedies, including Oedipus Rex, Medea, Phaedra and Hippolytus. O’Neill’s attempt to re-interpret classic Greek tragedies on the modern American stage was highly successful albeit controversial when the play was first performed in 1924.
The adaptation to a South African landscape has great potential and the exploration of land ownership and restitution in the local context could be examined further. The lack of motivation behind Abbie’s longing for a home of her own and the land are minor deficits in her character. She begins the play on a strong footing but seems to stumble as the plot line develops. She bridles with sensuality and her cunning is not far from the surface.
As she unravels during the course of the evening and her desire clouds her judgement and sense of reason she seems less sure of herself. At a moment in the play where her resolve is called for, she wavers. Nonetheless she plays father and son against each other with a crafty wile and the consequences of her actions are disastrous.
Bloom is the polar opposite of Smith. He is unappealing, almost grotesque in his obscene groping of her and the juxtaposition of her youthful innocence highlights his obsessive desire for her. His obsession for the land is as all consuming.
The costumes are exquisitely designed and Abbie’s dresses in particular are a combination of traditional Xhosa attire and Southern Belle wear. The staging is innovative and allows events to take place without complex transitions. The slatted walls of the bedrooms lend a voyeuristic element.
O’ Neill referred to the play as “a tragedy of the possessive – the pitiful longing of man to build his own heaven here on earth by glutting his sense of power with ownership of land, people, money – but principally the land and other people’s lives”; insightful at the beginning of the 20th century, and as apt today. Desire under the Elms is a timeless classic. Interpreted for a South African audience it acquires new relevance and is a devastating critique of the destructive potential of desire.
l Tickets are R100 and R140. There is a 15 age restriction. To book, call 0861 915 8000 or see www. computicket.com.