Charing Cross theatre, London
Among polished performances, Kara Lane’s creepily obsessed housekeeper proves a powerful force
This musical adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel became a mammoth success in Austria where it was first staged in 2006. The gothic tale of marriage between a naive young woman (Emily Apps) and a rich widower, Maxim de Winter (Richard Carson), who appears to be haunted by his devastatingly beautiful late wife, Rebecca, incorporates 22 songs by German-language composers Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay. They are translated into English here by Kunze and Christopher Hampton.
It is hard to cast aside Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film (even with Ben Wheatley’s recent Netflix version in the mix) but, visually, this musical makes its mark. Shadow play and watery surges around De Winter’s Cornish estate, Manderley, are captured beautifully through Matt Powell’s projections. Together with Nicky Shaw’s quickly re-forming set design, bedrooms morph into moonlit trees or cauldron-like ocean waves.
