Stage Dragon Review: The Lovely Bones, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 21 Nov, 2019
Updated on: 21 Nov, 2019

Charlotte Beaumont as Susie Photo Pamela Raith

By Ferenc Hepp

The play opens with horror, the brutal rape, murder and dismemberment of young Susie Salmon by neighbour George Harvey in Pennsylvania.

He stuffs her body parts in a safe, dumps it in a rural sinkhole and throws her charm bracelet into a pond.

But Susie’s spirit transcends her gruesome fate and she floats into her personal heaven, watching the life that follows her death.

And in The Lovely Bones, Susie tells of the reactions of friends, family and neighbours to her disappearance.

The Lovely Bones company: Photo Pamela Raith

The play is staged by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre touring company, by arrangement with Lee Dean, at the Yvonne Arnaud this week.

It is adapted to the stage by Bryony Lavery and directed by Melly Still, based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold, with the world premiere performed in September, 2018 at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, this version starting its tour on September 6, 2019 in Birmingham.

The action happens between 1973 and 1985 and Susie narrates throughout, Charlotte Beaumont hardly ever leaving the stage. In itself, that is quite an achievement, but we get much more than that from Beaumont.

Her personal heaven is physically illustrated by a chalked square area centre stage and there it remains there for almost the entire play.

From there she describes portrays how she feels about her father’s guilt, her mother’s abandonment of their family home and her alcoholic grandmother who moves in with the family to try to help Susie’s mother through her grief and to eventually help raise her grandchildren.

The various emotions and upset are clearly and powerfully described by Beaumont throughout. At one point, when she realises how many people her death has affected, she exclaims: “Being dead makes you very popular”.

Jack Sandle as Jack with Charlotte Beaumont: Photo Pamela Raith

Jack Sandle as the father and Catrin Aaron as the mother react very differently to these events, the interplay between them and the family are clearly brought to life by both.

The piece is essentially a dramatic thriller with adult themes, and a humour which regularly attracted laughter. That was mainly provided by Grandma Lyn, portrayed brilliantly by Lynda Rooke, which offered us a nice contrast to the dark themes.

Nicholas Khan as Harvey keeps committing murders, bringing a disturbing reality to this evil persona.

The stage design by Ana Inés Jabares-Pita includes a large mirrored backdrop which not only reflects the action below, but also allows an extra dimension with some characters appearing behind it on various levels.

This is utilised perfectly by the direction of Melly Still grabbing our attention throughout, and Matt Haskins’s atmospheric lighting design complements these design elements masterfully.

As Lavery explains: “It’s not a straight narrative. It’s loads of paths through a rather beautiful and disturbing forest.”

I felt quite emotional moving through this forest on Tuesday evening and I think most of the appreciative audience agreed with me, some of whom were on their feet during the bows.

The Lovely Bones runs until Saturday, November 23 and tickets are available via www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01483 440000.