On Saturday, March 14, 2015, I had the great pleasure of viewing an absolutely stunning, magical Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) original stage adaptation of Sarah Waters’ critically acclaimed best-selling Victorian crime thriller novel, Fingersmith. The 2002 novel had been hailed as brilliant, portraying the seedy life of a Dickensian Victorian London, incorporating some surprising plot twists that turn the story inside out several times, and along the way depicting a mature subject matter that was certainly risqué in the Victorian era and remains somewhat controversial even today among conservative and religious-right populations. The story revolves around a “fingersmith” – British slang for a pickpocket (Sue Trinder), an heiress (Maud Lilly) who takes Sue on as her maid, the “baby farmer” – British slang for someone that takes in infants for payment (Mrs. Sucksby) who raised Sue in a house full of shady characters in the worst portion of London, the heiress’s twisted uncle (Christopher Lilly) who collects ”poisonous” books and controls his niece, a con-man (Richard “Gentleman” Rivers) who pursues the heiress, and an ensemble of additional characters with a place in the story. The novel was previously made into a well received 3 hour BBC miniseries in 2005, starring Elaine Cassidy, Sally Hawkins, Imelda Staunton, Charles Dance and Rupert Evans in the principle roles. I’m not going to say any more about the plot, for the sake of avoiding spoilers for those who haven’t read the book or seen the BBC screen adaptation. But this production is the first time that the story has been presented on stage and it was a complete triumph.
Here Director Bill Rauch discusses the transformation of the thrilling novel by British author Sarah Waters into the compelling stage play presented by OSF:
The story, as in the novel and the BBC movie, is mesmerizing; it grabs your attention from the very outset, and keeps it riveted though the many plot twists and turns. Playwright Alexa Jung has worked magic, transforming the written novel into a theatrical work that preserves the Victorian era feeling of the book, as well as the thrill and excitement of the complex plot. This is a AAA thrill ride roller coaster of a play: always interesting, a feast for the eyes, fast-paced and packed with surprising turns and developments. Director Bill Rauch’s staging of this story is pure genius, aided and abetted by his talented OSF crew. The set is magnificent – multi-leveled, beautifully detailed and textured, and very effective in depicting the 19th Century London settings in the novel. Double turntables are very creatively used to move props and actors on and off stage, shift scenes, and keep the story moving. The set incorporates two projection screens, which are used to good effect to set the mood with projected images and advance the story with brief snippets of video. The costumes are stunning, dare I say better than those of the screen adaptation, which hardly were shabby themselves. All of this is enhanced by truly effective stage lighting, used to draw attention where it belongs, set moods and add highlights. Then there are the actors – the performances are top notch across the board. As the primary two characters, Sara Bruner in the role of the plain unpolished Sue and Erica Sullivan as a more complex Maud, command attention throughout. Peter Frechette creates an unforgettable Christopher Lilly in the manner of the novel’s character. Kate Mulligan renders a smarmy Mrs. Sucksby as described in the novel and Elijah Alexander aptly fills the bill as Richard “Gentleman” Rivers.
Christopher Lilly (Peter Frechette, center) gathers with other book dealers (Bruce A. Young, left, Brent Hinkley) to hear Maud read.
The performance which I saw, some two weeks after the opening premiere on March 1, ran a little under 3 hours in length, divided into three acts, split by two brief intermissions. It seemed shorter, quicker and crisper than the screen adaptation, which ran over 3 hours. The stage performance really was fast paced, though quite effectively so. All of the important elements of the complex plot and its significant plot twists were well represented and though it played fast, it did not seem rushed, nor did anything seem disjointed or missing. It should be noted that the stage play apparently has been evolving and modified from its initial conception. I would mention that where word of mouth from the preview audiences for OSF’s Fingersmith provided not-infrequent references to stage depictions of some risqué, mature-content scenes in the novel, the performance which I saw was completely tactful and genteel in handling the subject matter, and there were no scenes done in a way that would be likely to offend anyone. (Those who have read the book or seen the screen adaptation will know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, but are concerned by the references to mature subject matter, and absolutely need to know what that’s about, you can read the plot synopsis online at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingersmith_%28novel%29, though I don’t recommend it, as the many spoilers there will ruin the suspense, mystery and thrill of seeing the stage production without exposure to spoilers.) I am comfortable saying that I could recommend this stage play to any audience, without a caution regarding age or sensitivities.
Maud (Erica Sullivan) presents the frontispiece to Gentleman (Elijah Alexander, center) and Huss (Brent Hinkley).
The Fingersmith story , as created in the novel, is brilliant, captivating, clever and a great read. The BBC screen adaptation was well crafted, with a talented cast in good form, and did a very serviceable job of telling the story. But this stage adaptation is a masterpiece, a far more interesting, effective, and entertaining presentation of a great story. It just reinforces the sense that OSF is at the top of its game – its plays are some of the best theater being produced today anywhere, and that includes new material like Fingersmith as well as revisiting the great works of namesake, Will Shakespeare. For Fingersmith, add another notch to the string of superlative productions presented on the boards in Ashland recently, including 2014 Tony winner, All the Way.
Fingersmith will be running in repertory in OSF’s Angus Bowmer Theatre only through July 9. If you have any interest in seeing theater done at its best, with a captivating story set in a historical context, fine acting, surrounded with masterful staging, then make time to go see this play before then. OSF is also currently running three additional plays in repertory with Fingersmith: Much Ado About Nothing and Guys and Dolls also in the Angus Bowmer Theatre and Pericles in the Thomas Theatre. For tickets, call the OSF box office at 800-219-8161 or order online at http://bit.ly/1yqvboU.
Featured image above: Sue Trinder (Sara Bruner) undresses Maud Lilly (Erica Sullivan).
Photos by Jenny Graham, OSF photographer.
Lee Greene was born & raised in a NJ family where the only religion worshipped was classical music, Leonard Bernstein was God, and the radio was constantly on and tuned to classical station WQXR (which is now always on in his Jacksonville home thanks to the miracle of the Internet). Growing up in the New York City metropolitan area and later while residing and practicing law in NYC, Lee attended oodles of Broadway and off-Broadway theater productions, as well as concerts and opera at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and other NYC venues. Lee is now a retired attorney, runs a computer support business, and has served on the boards of Rogue Opera & Siskiyou Violins. Lee also writes Performing Arts reviews published on the website,
I loved the book and am recommending it to my book club Page Turners here in Dana Point, California. I am forwarding this article with the director’s video to my group. If they watch his description I think they will choose to read the book. Thank you.