Leisurely pace in ‘suspense’ story

Press, 6 May 1983, Page 11

Leisurely pace in ‘suspense’ story

TV review by

KARREN BEANLAND

Two programmes which were, screened on TVI on Sunday evening raised many questions, but offered no answers.

The episode of “The Woman in White”, an adaptation of Wilkie Collins’s classic suspense novel, was the first of a five-part series.

Although it had a good line-up of actors and was well produced, the first episode was not gripping television. It was more notable for its beautiful portrayal of the pace and tone of leisurely upper-middle-class English life during the Victorian era.

The interest in “The Woman in White” lies in the fact that it was one of the first of the now familiar “whodunnit” novels, along with Collins’s earlier detective novel, “The Moonstone”.

The first episode told how Walter Hartright (Daniel Gerroll), on his way to be-

come a drawing master for Laura (Jenny Seagrove) and Marian (Diana Quick of “Brideshead Revisited” fame), has a strange meeting with a mysterious woman who has escaped from an asylum. Predictably, Walter falls in love with Laura, who is betrothed to another man. The mystery deepens as the strange woman in white, Anne Catherick (Deidra Morris), tries to warn Laura not to marry, and as Walter realises that there is an uncanny resemblance between the two. One of the difficulties in transferring Collins’s work to television is that modern viewers have become inured to suspense drama. Compared with the many television suspense dramas

screened now, this tale seems slightly naive. Perhaps the first episode also lacked excitement because it is difficult to convey on television the mystery Walter feels about the ghostly woman in white. Charles Dickens, who was closely interested in Collins’s work, described their meeting in the novel as one of the most dramatic scenes he knew, but it failed to carry that impact on television.

In spite of this minor criticism, “The Woman in White” will make pleasant Sunday viewing over the next four weeks and it will be interesting to see how the story unfolds.

Like “The Woman in White”, Sunday’s play, “Dreams of Leaving”, by

David Hare, raised many questions, but gave few answers.

David Hare, who also directed the play, is a fine writer. This powerful and challenging play telis of a young journalist, William (played by Bill Nighy), who has gone to London to broaden his experience of life and to further his career.

There he meets Caroline (Kate Nelligan), who appears to be enjoying her sexual and personal freedom. Things are not as they seem, however, for she winds up alone and friendless in a mental institution.

In terms of plot, the play is similar to the beautiful French film, “The Lacemaker”, which tells of a young girl who cracks after taking her relationship with her intellectual boyfriend too seriously. In this case, however, it is the woman who insists on retaining her freedom.

David Hare, who frequently writes about women, seems to be pointing to the difficulty of human relationships. In spite of her modern sexual freedom, Caroline still finds it impossible to be close to a person she loves. Her carefree lifestyle is a mask for her isolation. Yet Hare does not offer marriage as the right course. At the end of the play, William is married and counts his three children as a consolation, but he still feels isolated.

It is tempting to try to draw a message from this thought-provoking play, but Hare did not set out to moralise. It is a radical departure from his usual political style.

More than anything, he wrote the role of Caroline for Kate Nelligan, for whom he has written three parts. She gave a striking portrayal of a haunted twenti-eth-century woman.