Writers: Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, based on the novel by Rebecca Netley
Director: Joseph Pitcher
With the nights drawing in and Halloween around the corner, now is the perfect time for theatres to turn to spookiness to both chill and entertain the soul.
The Mill at Sonning’s latest entry into the genre is a new adaptation of Rebecca Netley’s debut novel,The Whistling. Although published in 2021, the book harks back to many a work of Gothic fiction, with a young woman (Rebecca Forsyth’s Elspeth) taking employment as governess to a young girl in a remote location, facing hostility from the existing servants and uncovering a sinister, possibly supernatural, mystery lies within.
But while that template affords this production a level of familiarity, it also means that, at times, it struggles to assert its originality. Act I spends much time establishing the scenario – Mary, the little girl Elspeth is charged with (Saffron Haynes, sharing the role with two others), is mute following the death of her twin brother, while her parents died in a fire that left her new guardian, aunt Violet (Stephanie Farrell) scarred. The girl’s previous governess has disappeared without warning, adding another layer of mystery.
However, the girl’s silence is echoed by most of the adults on the island, meaning that the emergence of the true mystery progresses icily slowly. The gloomy environment – Diego Pitarch’s blackened set matched by similarly sombre costuming by Natalie Titchener – may be atmospheric, but one yearns for a variety of tone. Under director Joseph Pitcher, Forsyth pitches Elspeth at the same tone throughout, lacing every line with dread whether she’s talking to the silent nine-year-old or Ailsa, the wise woman on the beach who may or may not be a witch.
A couple of the supporting performances do help to provide a little variety. Heather Jackson’s Ailsa is mostly used to dump exposition and superstition in equal measures, but brings a charisma that adds colour to the monochrome world of the island. And Susie Riddell as the minister’s wife, and the only island resident to show Elspeth anything approaching warmth, offers a similarly welcome change in tone.
Elsewhere, as the mystery turns both supernatural – are the house and island haunted by malevolent spirits, summoned by the sound of a whistle made from human bone? – and criminal, with suspicions of murder creeping in,The Whistlingdoes have some impressive moments. A combination of mood lighting and stage illusions produce some fine jump-scare moments.
One can quite imagine the Gothic mood and sense of mystery working on the page, as Elspeth’s investigation opens up her own backstory, the similarities of her own tragic story reinforcing the bond she feels with Mary.
But in this stage adaptation, a little more variety of tone is needed. In order for the show’s darkness and mystery to feel effective, a greater sense of lightness elsewhere would allow the shadows at the heart of Netley’s story to really pop.
Continues until 16 November 2024