Review: THE LOVELY BONES, Crescent Theatre Birmingham
Alice Sebold’s best-selling 2002 novel, The Lovely Bones, centres on 14-year old girl Susie Salmon who was brutally murdered at the hands of her neighbour in 1973. She is now stuck in the “in-between” whilst watching over her family who are trying to unravel the circumstances behind her disappearance and subsequent death. The book was later adapted into a 2009 film with an all-star cast including Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci.
The Lovely Bones is a more recent addition to stage format, having been adapted by Bryony Lavery, and following its first professional outing in 2018, Birmingham’s Crescent Theatre are producing the first ever amateur production of the play this week.
The wide performance space accommodates the bones of a static set, predominantly scaffolding based, but with the inclusion of the Salmon’s home and the exterior of neighbour Mr Harvey’s house. The stage levels create a literal visual image of Susie looking down on her family, which is effective from a narrative point of view and believing she is in heaven. Rod Natkiel’s direction also utilises the set well, with the action zipping around the playing space at pace. Charlie Powell’s lighting, as such, does well to isolate specific scenes.
There is also a nice use of video, projected onto a small screen that is flown in and out on occasion to highlight significant moments of importance and whilst Rory Natkiel’s soundscape could have been used more regularly to create suspense, the music is powerful when it does feature.
The ensemble cast do very well in delivering the hard-hitting material, notably Charlotte Thompson as our main protagonist Susie, James David Knapp as Susie’s father Jack and Oliver Jones as villain of the piece, George Harvey.
Thompson is a constant presence across the two-hour show and has a laser focus on the proceedings throughout. She has the audience on side from the outset and you genuinely root for her quest to get justice for both herself and her family left behind. Knapp gives a truly emotive performance, with him leading the charge to avenge his daughter’s killer in an almost obsessive way, something which also makes him temporarily lose his wife. He has one of the bigger character arc’s in the piece and appears to manage this with ease. Jones is the star of the show however, quietly sinister and controlled as George Harvey, but with karma rearing its head at the end of the play.
Special mention must also be given to Nicole Poole who stepped into the role of Susie’s mum Abigail at short notice due to Covid reasons. Although she had a script in hand at times, she was not consumed by it and allowed the show continue - a huge well done!
Whilst you have to get on board and tuned in quickly as an audience member at the start of the show, the engagement definitely increases as it progresses and the Crescent company should be commended for their work on this piece.
Reviewed by: Jenny Ell
The Lovely Bones runs at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham until 5 February, with tickets available here.
