Ad disclosure: We were invited to Press Night free of charge for the purpose of this review.
Earlier this week, James and I attended press night of The Lovely Bones at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre in the city centre. We were absolutely blown away by everything about it; the set, the story, the costumes, the music, the acting… everything.
You could be forgiven for thinking at first glance of the synopsis for The Lovely Bones that it is a story about a murder – but it isn’t. Yes, there is a murder, and yes, you watch the unfolding investigation of Susie’s death – but the story itself is about how people react to it.
It is about how they grieve for what they have lost, Susie included. A 14 year old girl who had only been kissed once before the incident which led to her death, who then has to cope with not being able to grow up, and instead sees her little sister surpass her in age, and in experiences.
“These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections-sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent-that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events that my death wrought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous body had been my life.”
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
This story is told in a totally wonderful way on stage at The REP, by a simply brilliant cast. It is a total emotional rollercoaster, and both James and I had tears in our eyes by the time the actors took their bows. It’s lovely, and tragic, and joyful, all at the same time.
The staging is really clever, with a huge shimmering mirror reflecting the stage so you see it from above, and clever lighting allowing you to see through it at times to the scenes behind – and often it is as if characters are overlaying one another. This creates a magical effect and is totally unique, giving you different perspectives as the story unfolds.
Susie Salmon is played by Broadchurch’s Charlotte Beaumont, and she brings so much expression and energy to the role. Susie goes through such a wide range of emotions and Charlotte conveys them all fantastically… mischievousness, anger, despair, sadness, jealously, frustration, joy, and teenage rebelliousness are all mixed in there.
Charlotte is joined on stage by Jack Sandle, who plays the grief stricken father obsessed with seeing justice served, Catrin Aaron, the mother desperate for a different life, and Nicholas Khan, the creepy slimeball Mr Harvey, and the rest of the superb cast. In particular I really enjoyed Leigh Lothian’s portrayals of both Susie’s classmate Ruth Connors and the much neglected younger brother Buckley.
All in all, this adaptation is a mesmerising journey through death, grief, and love, and had us both laughing at times and holding our breath at others. I highly recommend it, and I also recommend you take a packet of tissues!
One side note: as someone who has dealt with sexual abuse in the past there is a rape scene at the beginning, which was hard to watch, but it was very well done. If you are easily triggered it may be one to give a miss, however.
Performance Information
Friday 6 – Saturday 21 September
Performance times: 7.30pm Mon – Sat, apart from Tuesday 10 September at 7pm. Matinees at 2pm on Sat 14, Thu 19 and Sat 21 Sept.
Audio Described Performance: Friday 13 September, 7.30pm
Captioned performance: Wednesday 18 September, 7.30pm
BSL Interpreted performance: Thursday 19 September, 7.30pm
Tickets from £15 (subject to availability, £2.50 transaction fee applies), previews (6 – 9 September) and weekday matinee (19 September) from £10
Box Office: 0121 236 4455 Online Booking: birmingham-rep.co.uk
The Lovely Bones on Tour
The Lovely Bones is also touring the UK throughout September, October and November, so you don’t have to travel to Birmingham to see this spellbinding production:
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 6 – 21 September
Theatre Royal Nottingham, 24 – 28 September
Exeter Northcott Theatre, 30 September – 5 October
Norwich Theatre Royal, 7 – 12 October
The Lowry Salford, 15 –19 October
Rose Theatre Kingston, 22 – 26 October
London Hackney Empire, 28 October – 1 November
Cambridge Arts Theatre, 4 – 9 November
Oxford Playhouse, 11 – 16 November
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 18 – 23 November
Chichester Festival Theatre (on sale 14 Sep), 26 – 30 November
