Coming to Birmingham Repertory Theatre to commemorate the centenary of Britain’s entrance to the First World War, this adaption of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms tells a harrowing story of love in a time of bitter conflict.
The classic love story of Frederic Henry, an American serving as a Lieutenant in the Italian Ambulance Corps who falls in love with British nurse’s aide Catherine Barkley, is inventively reproduced on stage here by a small cast and set. The six actors all provide strong performances, and create a believable atmosphere using a stage consisting of just two beds and a few small props, but the star of the show was female lead Laura Atherton who gave a strong and multi-layered portrayal of Catherine, and shared a convincing chemistry with male lead Jude Monk McGowan, who played Frederic Henry.
In the challenging task of translating Hemmingway’s minimalist prose into theatre, imitating the Dog have brought with them a range of new and innovative techniques. Everything from subtitles for the Italian dialogue to projections of the character’s faces during their monologues blur the lines between film, theatre and the novel. Impressive as it is, at times it can feel overly complicated and distracting to the drama at the heart of the story, sometimes feeling empty, almost as if the technical wizardry is there to disarm and distract without furthering the play or its messages.
Yet when it does all work in cohesion the product that shines through gives both a strong narrative and many questions about the evolving nature of theatre. The drama builds in cohesion with the score and the often disconcerting projections blasted across the stage add an unsettling air to the plays more aggressive moments, and a mellow calm to those that are more tender. There are some harrowing moments within the play, and some beautiful, all of which are accentuated by the technology in use.
There were some small problems with pacing in the first half, a natural problem with adapting a novel. Often that which wasn’t centered around the love story was sped through, so some scenes felt disconnected from each other. This was rectified in the second half however, as the story shifted more towards the romance, weaving a focused narrative with more engaging scenes.
As such, A Farewell to Arms was a highly innovative play and a very enjoyable experience that deserves to be watched and enjoyed by many, but one with a few small problems which hold it back at times, but never leave a bad taste in the mouth.
By Chris Harris
