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[title]When it was announced late last year that Australia’s own Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi would be at the helm of a film adaption of Wuthering Heights from Emerald Fennel (Saltburn, Promising Young Woman) the internet, well, had thoughts.
All of this to say that Emily Brontë’s classic tale of doomed love on the moors still resonates with audiences today. This is something that British director Emma Rice knows well – her 2021 stage adaption of the 19th-century novel racked up five-star reviews abroad, including four stars from Time Out London.
Now, thanks to a partnership with Aussie producers Liza McLean and Andrew Kay, the acclaimed production is set to land at Sydney’s Roslyn Packer Theatre in Walsh Bay for an exclusive three-week-only season, starting from January 31.
Wuthering Heights tells the story of an all-consuming love between characters Catherine and Heathcliff. As a boy, Heathcliff was found parentless and brought to live with Catherine’s family on the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors. Gradually, Catherine and Heathcliff develop a bond so unbreakable that it transcends death.
Rice, the former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, has been captivated by Wuthering Heights since she was an adolescent, saying: “I love it! It is wild in all ways and, for me, is the opposite of a romance. I would describe it as a darkly comic revenge tragedy for our time and one that warns how our actions today will affect the world for decades to come.”
When adapting the novel with her theatre company, Wise Children, Rice decided to create a music-filled version that melds the traditions of the Greek chorus with British folk, Eastern European choirs, and punk rock; all of which is performed by a live band.
To bring to life the novel’s elemental wildness, she cast a chorus of actors to personify the moors, alongside a thrilling live score built on roiling percussion and screeching strings paired with projections of tumultuous skies.
Several of the original British company reprise their roles for Sydney audiences, including John Leader and Stephanie Hockley in the lead roles of Heathcliff and Catherine. Other cast members include Sam Archer playing Lockwood/Edgar Linton, Rebecca Collingwood as Isabella Linton/Linton Heathcliff, Matthew Churcher as Hindley Earnshaw/Hareton Earnshaw, Nandi Bhebhe is in the role of Leader of the Moors, Stephanie Elstob as Zillah, Thomas Fox as Mr Earnshaw, TJ Holmes as Dr Kenneth, Robyn Sinclair as Frances Earnshaw/Young Cathy, and Frederick Double as Robert.
Wuthering Heights is playing at Sydney’s Roslyn Packer Theatre from January 31 to February 15. Grab your tickets here.