Atonement at Chichester Festival Theatre Review
image: Manuel Harlan
Written by Stephen for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel has been through various iterations. First the novel, then the 2007 movie, even a 2024 narrative ballet choreographed by Cathy Marston which premiered in Zurich, and now Christopher Hampton’s adaptation for the stage. It is what can only be described as a romantic tragedy set in three time periods, 1935 England, Second World War England and France, and 1999 England.
Almost unbelievably (to me at least) I first saw Hampton’s work in 1971 when his early piece ‘The Philanthropist’ appeared at the long-gone Mayfair Theatre in the West End. I still recall the first scene shocker which stunned the audience. Fifty five years later he continues to write at a prodigious pace, whether adaptations of other work, musical theatre libretti and lyrics, with Lloyd Webber, Don Black and others, and original endeavours. In fact I met the delightfully gracious great man in 2024 at the Hampstead Theatre for the English-language premiere of his play ‘Visit from an Unknown Woman’.
The premise of Atonement is that all actions have consequences and it challenges the audience to determine whether it is possible to seek redemption through subsequent actions only in real life, or whether it is possible to atone by weaving a web of fiction. If you find this obtuse, I am afraid it is deliberately so, since I would not wish to give away any spoilers to those who have not seen or read the work. In summary, Atonement follows 13-year-old Briony Tallis, whose active imagination and jealousy lead her to falsely accuse Robbie Turner (a family friend) of a crime he didn't commit. This single lie destroys the lives of her sister Cecilia and Robbie, prompting Briony to spend the rest of her life seeking redemption.
Under Adam Penford’s assured direction, this Chichester main-house production is strikingly elegant. Anthony Ward’s versatile two-tier set—familiar to Chichester audiences from Sweeney Todd and Gypsy—works beautifully with Andrzej Goulding’s excellent, and now almost obligatory, video design to shift the action cinematically from a country house to a Second World War battlefield, St Thomas’ Hospital and a dingy flat in Balham. The cast of fourteen often doubles across time periods, and the production clearly feels like a labour of love, not least in its elegant costume design.
The writing is surprisingly old fashioned, although I make no complaint about that. In the first act which sets up the disastrous consequences which follow, there are flashes of Rattigan and some Coward like barbed wit. In fact Act One, set entirely in 1935 in the country house, could be regarded as a comedy. For much of it, the humorous, class conscious characters set the tone in almost caricaturish fashion. The mood darkens significantly in Act Two.
Hampton’s writing drives the epic narrative forward in a clear comprehensible style. It is not his best work, but it is compelling and entertaining. The performances are never less than adept, though the writing style restricts any displays of passion or more than skin deep temperament.
The principal characters are Briony Tallis, played as both a thirteen and eighteen year old, by Isabella Dempster, Cecilia Tallis (Miriam Petch) and Robbie (Jasper Talbot). They are fine. In the final scene Briony, in 1999, is an old woman, played by Jessica Turner in a role which was to have been occupied by Sian Phillips. The twist in the plot provides the denouement of the play and Turner delivers it exceptionally well.
Let me be frank. This show is not going to win the Pulitzer prize for drama, but it is entertaining, gorgeous to look at, solidly written and well performed. I can see it in the West End where I think audiences would lap it up. Most of all, I enjoyed it!
★ ★ ★ ★