Wuthering Heights Review

The Lowry, Salford – until 7th May 2022

Reviewed by Jennifer Hughes

4****

In front of an audience of both young and old, Emma Rice’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights did not disappoint in delivering a theatrical experience which was as wild and intense as Bronte’s main protagonists themselves. This performance had the captivated viewer enthralled in the doomed and haunting relationship between Lucy McCormick’s Cathy and Liam Tanme’s Heathcliffe, whilst intermittently experiencing moments of manic hilarity, courtesy of a truly captivating performance from Katy Owen playing the roles of both Isabella Linton and Linton Heathcliffe. Katie’s scenes beautifully delivered a medicinal dose of almost pantomime humor, diluting a very dark, somber and tragic story with hilarious audience participation. An excellent juxtaposition.

A blistering and unexpected ‘I am the Earth’ rock song from Lucy McCormick’s Cathy, midway through the performance, transported the viewer to a heady, wild unexpected world, before bouncing back into the original stormy Yorkshire Moors, which were cleverly represented in personification form by a superb cast.

This adaptation very cleverly and sometimes blatantly ensured that the viewer was able to follow Brontes gothic and lengthy plot by explaining what was happening and what had happened previously, further emphasising the themes of repetition, revenge, love and death. If in doubt, the chalkboard death announcements cleared up any confusion !

In all, this was a wonderful theatrical performance of a literary classic which clearly appealed to the mixed age audience. A clever, modern comedic twist , delivered without compromising the tragedy of this literary classic, whilst seemingly delivering a hint of a nod to Kate Bush and Mumford and Sons ! What is not to love about that!