adapted by David Harrower
seen at the Donmar Warehouse on 14 June 2018
Polly Findlay directs Lia Williams as Jean Brodie with Angus Wright as Gordon Lowther (the Music Master), Sylvestra le Touzel as Miss Mackay (the Headmistress), Edward MacLiam as Teddy Lloyd (the Art Master), Kit Young as the journalist and Rona Morison, Grace Saif, Emma Hindle, Nicola Coughlan and Helena Wilson as the girls Sandy, Monica, Mary, Joyce Emily and Jenny respectively in this new adaptation of Muriel Spark's novel about the charismatic but unorthodox teacher at a prestigious girls' junior school in Edinburgh in the 1930s.
A hint from the novel, which itself recounts events in the school lives of the girls while also looking forward to their adult careers, provides a framing device for this adaptation, whereby Sandy, the observant prospective writer, is being interviewed by a journalist on the day before she takes final vows in a convent. The ostensible reason for the interview is the publication of Sandy's book on psychology, but the journalist is keen to explore Sandy's memories of her schooldays, and it is his probing which generates the flashbacks telling the story of Miss Brodie's extraordinary influence on 'her' girls, an influence which begins with her dazzling teaching methods when they are eleven, but which continues to affect the favoured set (the only pupils that we actually see in the play) throughout their later years.
Lia Williams gives an arresting performance with her bold dress sense, her seductive voice and her mesmerising manner. Jean Brodie dominates the stage, and captivates the young girls who have never come across anyone like her in the straitlaced world of their Edinburgh childhoods. Of course they are quite unable to appreciate any faults in an adult who presents her dogmatic views as particular confidences involving them in a conspiracy against the philistine world around them.
She is surrounded by an excellent cast - the girls are convincing as dazzled eleven-year-olds in the first half and as increasingly critical (or deluded) teenagers in the second half, while Angus Wright captures the hesitant and nervous fascination of Gordon Lowther who turns out to be thoroughly out of his depth in falling for Jean Brodie.
The plays relentlessly exposes the darker side of Jean Brodie's allure, and also reveals her complete blindness to her own faults. Her categorical pronouncements on the future careers of her girls completely subvert her protestations that they should be free spirits - evidently they should only be free to fulfil her dreams for them - but she does not perceive any contradiction. The easy enjoyment of her 'prime' fades as the implications of her stance and political outlook become more plain. Though we would like to join in her amusing put-downs of the strait-laced headmistress, Sylvestra le Touzel invests Miss Mackay with enough humanity for us to see that she too is a dedicated teacher, but with a more realistic idea of her vocation.
A thoroughly enjoyable production with a fresh look at a familiar story, sufficient on its own merits to rank with the classic film.
She is surrounded by an excellent cast - the girls are convincing as dazzled eleven-year-olds in the first half and as increasingly critical (or deluded) teenagers in the second half, while Angus Wright captures the hesitant and nervous fascination of Gordon Lowther who turns out to be thoroughly out of his depth in falling for Jean Brodie.
The plays relentlessly exposes the darker side of Jean Brodie's allure, and also reveals her complete blindness to her own faults. Her categorical pronouncements on the future careers of her girls completely subvert her protestations that they should be free spirits - evidently they should only be free to fulfil her dreams for them - but she does not perceive any contradiction. The easy enjoyment of her 'prime' fades as the implications of her stance and political outlook become more plain. Though we would like to join in her amusing put-downs of the strait-laced headmistress, Sylvestra le Touzel invests Miss Mackay with enough humanity for us to see that she too is a dedicated teacher, but with a more realistic idea of her vocation.
A thoroughly enjoyable production with a fresh look at a familiar story, sufficient on its own merits to rank with the classic film.
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