The Lovely Bones Review

Birmingham Reparatory Theatre – until 21st September then Nationwide Tour

Reviewed by Joanne Hodge

5*****

Having read, and fallen in love with, Alice Seabold’s ‘The Lovely Bones’ when it was first published in 2002, I couldn’t wait to see it transferred to the stage, intrigued by how anyone could bring my vision of Susie’s Heaven and Earth to life. If I’d any concerns at all, I needn’t have worried.

Bryony Lavery’s adaptation is faultless. The story, set in the 1970’s, centres around the sexual assault and murder of 14 year old Susie, eldest child of Jack and Abigail Salmon, by their neighbour, Mr Harvey [a yet to be unmasked serial killer]. Though the plot sounds grim, it’s actually a heart-warming tale of a girl dealing with the emotion and trauma of adolescence, through watching her younger sister and brother – Lindsey and Buckley – continue to grow whilst she watches on, frozen in time. It also explores grief, as both the audience and Susie get to observe the lives of those left behind dealing with such an unexpected and unsolved loss.

Director Melly Still seems to have had the perfect cast to work with, and her utilisation of them playing multiple parts was, for the most, seamless. In any other scenario I’m sure seeing Susie’s love interest Ray [Samuel Gosrani], morph scene-to-scene into her beloved family dog Holiday would be considered bizarre, however, the fact that you are watching the story flit between both sides of The Veil makes this entirely plausible. We’ve all had those dreams where one room suddenly turns into another, or you’re talking to someone who then fades into someone else, no? Maybe just me!

Charlotte Beaumont’s Susie is a revelation. She is warm, funny, snarky, sarcastic, clever and witty – everything 14 year old me wanted to be, and she commanded the theatre, whether talking directly to the audience, or in quiet contemplation upstage. I was captivated. I felt like I myself went through every human possible emotion whilst watching her story unfold. I shed a tear when she was brutally gagged and raped, I laughed – and inwardly blushed – as she began to feel the first flushes of both love and lust, and sympathised with the frustration that she would never have the opportunity to fulfil such longing. More than anything, I was angry for her, that she was so profoundly aware of the proximity to her family of the man responsible for her untimely end, and feeling the undeniable fear that he may harm them, and that they may never know of his guilt.

Ana Ines Jaberes-Pita [Designer] and Matt Haskins [Lighting] creating a set that stretched the limits of the audiences belief – I heard several of them saying ~How can we see that?” “Are they walking across the stage or is it CGI?” and “How are those mirrors working? They are mirrors, aren’t they?” It created an electric atmosphere, and to-date, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a set like it.

As a fan of the book, the stage adaptation gave me more than I ever expected, but don’t think if you haven’t read it, it’s not worth seeing. It is a theatrical masterpiece, and, if you can’t make the play in Birmingham, make sure you catch it on the nationwide tour.