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regshoeI recently went to see the National Theatre of Scotland's touring adaptation of Kidnapped. In brief, it was amazing, I loved it, and I highly recommend it to anyone who can possibly get to any of the upcoming performances in Inverness, Perth, Newcastle or Brighton. And here are some more thoughts! With a warning for big spoilers for things specific to the show, and a caveat that I am not used to reviewing things I can only see once and may have missed or misinterpreted various details. Quotes are paraphrased.
The play opens with a woman in late-Victorian mourning dress walking out onto the stage, guitar in hand, and singing 'I've Been Everywhere' (modified with a new set of Scottish, English and American place names). She introduces herself as Frances Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson, wife and literary collaborator of Robert Louis Stevenson, and explains some of her backstory. She will present the story of Louis's book Kidnapped, for which she contributed the original inspiration and some of the ideas, to us the audience... Then she introduces our hero David Balfour, and from here the familiar plot kicks off. Throughout the show Frances is a sort of interpreter of the story to the audience, commenting on the characters and events and relating the story to that of her own life and her relationship with Louis; I really liked this, and it's a great way of using the new medium to do something new and interesting with the story.
This is not a faithful adaptation. It's thoroughly comic in tone, with characters like Mr Campbell and the sailors being treated far less seriously than in the book. The plot is highly simplified and compressed; Earraid is cut entirely (a good choice, I thought), as is most of Balquhidder after the quarrel (disappointing, but understandable) and Limekilns (very disappointing! given the mood and style of the rest of it, I'd love to have seen their take on the lass at the change-house). Most of the dialogue is new, though a few well-chosen lines are retained from the book. It's cheerfully anachronistic: David and Ransome are served Irn-Bru by the innkeeper at Queensferry; David's duties as cabin boy include making tuna melt toasted sandwiches for Captain Hoseason; Cluny's Cage is a casino with red carpet and brightly coloured lights reading CLUNY'S. And it is indeed full of modern pop music; though it's not a musical in the usual sense, the songs being used to ornament the scenes rather than to tell the story, and only fairly short parts of most of them played. I thought they worked well, on the whole; I especially liked 'Road to Nowhere', which accompanied Davie's journeying through the Highlands, and was sung at one point in Gaelic; and 'The Gambler', which was played over the card game in Cluny's Cage (er, if as an effective contrast; clearly Alan does not 'know when to walk away'...).
All that said, the show is not at all without sincerity or depth. I felt the more serious parts were handled very well; despite the fast pace the emotional moments got room to breathe and they were, in spirit, absolutely faithful to the book. I did think we could have spent just a little bit less time with the comic sailors and more with Alan and Davie in the Highlands, but in general have not much to complain about. Also, some of the silly anachronistic bits were clever reinterpretations of details from the book, and there were references to parts of the book not actually shown, which gave a reassuring general sense of liking for and knowledge of the book on the part of the writers. I have a lot more time for adaptations that aren't trying to be faithful, are clear about what they are trying to do and do it well and with respect for what really matters about the original than I have for adaptations that try to be faithful and miss, or that get some details right while other important things are totally wrong. This is decidedly one of the good ones.
Right, it's time to talk about the canon Alan/Davie. :D :D
Alan and David's relationship is very clearly romantic on both sides right from the start. Alan's introduction is changed from the book in a way I really liked, with much more made of his first appearance: the other characters see him before we do, with the sailors gathering at the front of the stage, describing this man they can see and marvelling at how he's jumping from the sinking boat to the ship... then the lights dim, the sailors fade away and Frances comes up to Davie, who's staring awestruck at the still-offstage Alan, and starts telling the audience about how she met Louis. After the disaster of her first marriage she'd sworn off men; but sometimes, she says, despite everything, you fall unexpectedly... inconveniently... totally... in love. And then Alan swings onto the stage, immediately very Alan, and all the sailors keep going on about how incredibly handsome and dashing he is and Davie is absolutely that much in love. Much is also made of Davie's decision to help Alan in the fight against the sailors. Alan tells Davie that this is a very serious promise and will make them 'more than friends'; 'like brothers, or something?' says Davie, and Alan replies yes, 'or something'. You may imagine my delight. The 'Come to my arms!' moment from the book is kept and made even gayer (omitting the 'like a brother' and with Alan kissing Davie on the lips). Shortly afterwards, Davie is recovering from the fight and talking about how he's never done any of that before; Alan, very intense and serious, says, 'It's been a day of firsts for me too,' and they lean in towards each other... and are interrupted by the shipwreck! End of Act One!
Besides the general compression of the plot, some fairly major changes are made. These largely serve to increase emotional drama at the expense of thorough plot logic, and given the style of the play perfect logic is not really essential, so I was happy with most of them. A couple of the more important ones:
After the shipwreck Davie is directed where to go by a Mull islander who recognises Alan's button, as in the book; but unlike in the book the islander has not seen Alan, so he and Davie conclude that Alan perished in the shipwreck. Davie does not find out that Alan survived until he reaches Aucharn (with a comic moment where he solemnly announces Alan's death to James of the Glens while Alan is standing at the other side of the stage in clear view of the audience; then Davie sees him and they have a lovely joyful reunion). With their meeting in Lettermore cut, the argument about the murder and Alan's (lack of) part in it isn't till Corrynakiegh... and it transpires that Alan was going to shoot Glenure, but couldn't bring himself to do it because Davie was right there and he couldn't risk hitting him. I wasn't sure about that from a character logic point of view (in the book Alan says he wouldn't have shot Glenure right there in Appin, knowing the trouble it would bring on the clan), though morally I can't really argue that Alan Would Never, and certainly it works as emotional drama. Things not really resolved, David goes to sleep alone while Alan keeps watch (Alan's great-coat is not used, unfortunately; I suppose it would have made the costume too cumbersome). Here Frances appears again, talking about her relationship with Louis, the pain of solitude and the contrasting comfort of being alone with someone you love... and Davie gets up again and goes to Alan, and they kiss, and it's the most lovely moment. My heart just about melted.
From Corrynakiegh we go straight to the capture by Cluny's men. The quarrel is made even more dramatic, with Davie actually saying (what he only thinks in the book) that he should leave Alan because of the greater danger of staying with him, and a physical fight ensuing. Alan ultimately refuses to hurt Davie, as in the book—but then Davie actually leaves! Then they're both captured by some traitors amongst Cluny's men (who literally fling off their plaids to reveal Campbell tartan outfits underneath; the Dress Act is ignored, incidentally, with all the Highland characters except Alan wearing tartan). The traitors invite Davie to betray Alan and help them inform against him, but Davie returns to Alan's side and they fight off the Campbells together. After the fight Davie collapses, and the hurt/comfort sequence follows. I didn't greatly like this set of changes—the sudden introduction of the traitors was baffling, the fight was much less interesting and in-character than eighteenth-century honourable duelling and of course we missed the glory of Davie's tactically-provoked hurt/comfort—though I realise the equivalent bits from the book would have been harder to do on stage. However, the hurt/comfort was lovely—complete with Alan bridal-carrying Davie across the stage!—and they got the 'I liked ye fine' and 'that ye never quarrelled' lines from the book in, which I liked to see.
I was very curious about how the production was going to handle the ending! Surely, I thought, they can't break up Alan and Davie; but equally they can't get around the problem of Alan having to go back to France. Well, they handled it beautifully. The plot is wrapped up more neatly than in the book, with Ebenezer persuaded to hand over full ownership of Shaws to David and Rankeillor arranging for Alan to go back to France immediately. Davie tries to invite Alan to stay with him at Shaws instead, and poor Alan clearly wants to, but it's impossible; they exchange 'I love you's, before being interrupted by Rankeillor with the news that he's found a ship... Here Frances appears again and, well, reveals why she's been wearing mourning dress for the whole play ('It was one afternoon,' she says, 'when we were making a salad...'). She talks about the pain of losing someone you love; but, she says, we have to keep going, and we know that those we love are still watching over us and still with us, and perhaps we'll see them again some day... And then it's years later, and Davie, now a successful and fortunate gentleman, is walking in the garden at Shaws by moonlight, the silver button clasped in his hand; and Alan appears at the back of the stage and says, 'Davie...'. Davie turns round and sees him; they kiss and embrace delightedly, at which point I was trying not to squee too audibly. At the very end a man in Victorian dress walks onto the stage and goes up to Frances—and the curtain falls.
Some miscellaneous notes:
I must praise the actors, who are all great! I especially liked Malcolm Cumming as Alan, who's got just the right turns from loud flamboyance to emotional sincerity; and Ryan J. MacKay likewise gets both the comedy and the earnestness of Davie very well. Kim Ismay brings to life a brilliant character and narrator as Frances. These are the only singly-cast characters; the ensemble rotate though the rest of the roles, which works very well with the rotating cast of minor characters from the book, and they are all entertainingly memorable in their various ways.
I've said that I thought the show captured the heart of the book very well. It seems slightly over-obvious to say that what I like best about my OTP is how much they like each other, but that really is just it with Davie and Alan; and their mutual fondness and admiration were absolutely here. Both actors were, as I say, very good for their parts (except for being pretty much the same height, but they can't help that) and amongst all the silliness and anachronism and deviation from the book, their relationship was just what it should be... and then, from that solid emotional base, taken the step further to make it explicitly romantic. I can't really overstate how much that meant, even beyond the happy fact of its being my own personal OTP. And the audience loved it, and the reviews and commentary are generally all very good. It is really a beautiful thing.
:') ♥
Now, I wonder if Isobel McArthur has ever heard of Flight of the Heron...
The play opens with a woman in late-Victorian mourning dress walking out onto the stage, guitar in hand, and singing 'I've Been Everywhere' (modified with a new set of Scottish, English and American place names). She introduces herself as Frances Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson, wife and literary collaborator of Robert Louis Stevenson, and explains some of her backstory. She will present the story of Louis's book Kidnapped, for which she contributed the original inspiration and some of the ideas, to us the audience... Then she introduces our hero David Balfour, and from here the familiar plot kicks off. Throughout the show Frances is a sort of interpreter of the story to the audience, commenting on the characters and events and relating the story to that of her own life and her relationship with Louis; I really liked this, and it's a great way of using the new medium to do something new and interesting with the story.
This is not a faithful adaptation. It's thoroughly comic in tone, with characters like Mr Campbell and the sailors being treated far less seriously than in the book. The plot is highly simplified and compressed; Earraid is cut entirely (a good choice, I thought), as is most of Balquhidder after the quarrel (disappointing, but understandable) and Limekilns (very disappointing! given the mood and style of the rest of it, I'd love to have seen their take on the lass at the change-house). Most of the dialogue is new, though a few well-chosen lines are retained from the book. It's cheerfully anachronistic: David and Ransome are served Irn-Bru by the innkeeper at Queensferry; David's duties as cabin boy include making tuna melt toasted sandwiches for Captain Hoseason; Cluny's Cage is a casino with red carpet and brightly coloured lights reading CLUNY'S. And it is indeed full of modern pop music; though it's not a musical in the usual sense, the songs being used to ornament the scenes rather than to tell the story, and only fairly short parts of most of them played. I thought they worked well, on the whole; I especially liked 'Road to Nowhere', which accompanied Davie's journeying through the Highlands, and was sung at one point in Gaelic; and 'The Gambler', which was played over the card game in Cluny's Cage (er, if as an effective contrast; clearly Alan does not 'know when to walk away'...).
All that said, the show is not at all without sincerity or depth. I felt the more serious parts were handled very well; despite the fast pace the emotional moments got room to breathe and they were, in spirit, absolutely faithful to the book. I did think we could have spent just a little bit less time with the comic sailors and more with Alan and Davie in the Highlands, but in general have not much to complain about. Also, some of the silly anachronistic bits were clever reinterpretations of details from the book, and there were references to parts of the book not actually shown, which gave a reassuring general sense of liking for and knowledge of the book on the part of the writers. I have a lot more time for adaptations that aren't trying to be faithful, are clear about what they are trying to do and do it well and with respect for what really matters about the original than I have for adaptations that try to be faithful and miss, or that get some details right while other important things are totally wrong. This is decidedly one of the good ones.
Right, it's time to talk about the canon Alan/Davie. :D :D
Alan and David's relationship is very clearly romantic on both sides right from the start. Alan's introduction is changed from the book in a way I really liked, with much more made of his first appearance: the other characters see him before we do, with the sailors gathering at the front of the stage, describing this man they can see and marvelling at how he's jumping from the sinking boat to the ship... then the lights dim, the sailors fade away and Frances comes up to Davie, who's staring awestruck at the still-offstage Alan, and starts telling the audience about how she met Louis. After the disaster of her first marriage she'd sworn off men; but sometimes, she says, despite everything, you fall unexpectedly... inconveniently... totally... in love. And then Alan swings onto the stage, immediately very Alan, and all the sailors keep going on about how incredibly handsome and dashing he is and Davie is absolutely that much in love. Much is also made of Davie's decision to help Alan in the fight against the sailors. Alan tells Davie that this is a very serious promise and will make them 'more than friends'; 'like brothers, or something?' says Davie, and Alan replies yes, 'or something'. You may imagine my delight. The 'Come to my arms!' moment from the book is kept and made even gayer (omitting the 'like a brother' and with Alan kissing Davie on the lips). Shortly afterwards, Davie is recovering from the fight and talking about how he's never done any of that before; Alan, very intense and serious, says, 'It's been a day of firsts for me too,' and they lean in towards each other... and are interrupted by the shipwreck! End of Act One!
Besides the general compression of the plot, some fairly major changes are made. These largely serve to increase emotional drama at the expense of thorough plot logic, and given the style of the play perfect logic is not really essential, so I was happy with most of them. A couple of the more important ones:
After the shipwreck Davie is directed where to go by a Mull islander who recognises Alan's button, as in the book; but unlike in the book the islander has not seen Alan, so he and Davie conclude that Alan perished in the shipwreck. Davie does not find out that Alan survived until he reaches Aucharn (with a comic moment where he solemnly announces Alan's death to James of the Glens while Alan is standing at the other side of the stage in clear view of the audience; then Davie sees him and they have a lovely joyful reunion). With their meeting in Lettermore cut, the argument about the murder and Alan's (lack of) part in it isn't till Corrynakiegh... and it transpires that Alan was going to shoot Glenure, but couldn't bring himself to do it because Davie was right there and he couldn't risk hitting him. I wasn't sure about that from a character logic point of view (in the book Alan says he wouldn't have shot Glenure right there in Appin, knowing the trouble it would bring on the clan), though morally I can't really argue that Alan Would Never, and certainly it works as emotional drama. Things not really resolved, David goes to sleep alone while Alan keeps watch (Alan's great-coat is not used, unfortunately; I suppose it would have made the costume too cumbersome). Here Frances appears again, talking about her relationship with Louis, the pain of solitude and the contrasting comfort of being alone with someone you love... and Davie gets up again and goes to Alan, and they kiss, and it's the most lovely moment. My heart just about melted.
From Corrynakiegh we go straight to the capture by Cluny's men. The quarrel is made even more dramatic, with Davie actually saying (what he only thinks in the book) that he should leave Alan because of the greater danger of staying with him, and a physical fight ensuing. Alan ultimately refuses to hurt Davie, as in the book—but then Davie actually leaves! Then they're both captured by some traitors amongst Cluny's men (who literally fling off their plaids to reveal Campbell tartan outfits underneath; the Dress Act is ignored, incidentally, with all the Highland characters except Alan wearing tartan). The traitors invite Davie to betray Alan and help them inform against him, but Davie returns to Alan's side and they fight off the Campbells together. After the fight Davie collapses, and the hurt/comfort sequence follows. I didn't greatly like this set of changes—the sudden introduction of the traitors was baffling, the fight was much less interesting and in-character than eighteenth-century honourable duelling and of course we missed the glory of Davie's tactically-provoked hurt/comfort—though I realise the equivalent bits from the book would have been harder to do on stage. However, the hurt/comfort was lovely—complete with Alan bridal-carrying Davie across the stage!—and they got the 'I liked ye fine' and 'that ye never quarrelled' lines from the book in, which I liked to see.
I was very curious about how the production was going to handle the ending! Surely, I thought, they can't break up Alan and Davie; but equally they can't get around the problem of Alan having to go back to France. Well, they handled it beautifully. The plot is wrapped up more neatly than in the book, with Ebenezer persuaded to hand over full ownership of Shaws to David and Rankeillor arranging for Alan to go back to France immediately. Davie tries to invite Alan to stay with him at Shaws instead, and poor Alan clearly wants to, but it's impossible; they exchange 'I love you's, before being interrupted by Rankeillor with the news that he's found a ship... Here Frances appears again and, well, reveals why she's been wearing mourning dress for the whole play ('It was one afternoon,' she says, 'when we were making a salad...'). She talks about the pain of losing someone you love; but, she says, we have to keep going, and we know that those we love are still watching over us and still with us, and perhaps we'll see them again some day... And then it's years later, and Davie, now a successful and fortunate gentleman, is walking in the garden at Shaws by moonlight, the silver button clasped in his hand; and Alan appears at the back of the stage and says, 'Davie...'. Davie turns round and sees him; they kiss and embrace delightedly, at which point I was trying not to squee too audibly. At the very end a man in Victorian dress walks onto the stage and goes up to Frances—and the curtain falls.
Some miscellaneous notes:
- The historical background is explained entertainingly. The sailors make various humorously incorrect guesses about what 'Jacobite' means, which is followed by Alan rapidly trying to explain centuries of history to contextualise it all. Davie gets a moment of more substantial Whiggish counter-argument than he does in the book, making an analogy between James VII and II's flight from Britain and Alan's desertion of the sinking boat (all very well for him as a passenger; but the captain is supposed to go down with the ship).
- The age gap is narrowed on both sides: Davie is repeatedly described as nineteen (though much is also made early on of him indignantly protesting that he's an adult), and Alan gets the same description in the Government bill as in the book but it says 'about twenty-five' instead of thirty-five.
- The set was fun! The main part of it consists of a single structure which is hollow on one side and serves variously as part of the ship on which the sailors cavort, rocky outcrop, cave, room and base for musical instruments; an image of Davie's travels on a little map is projected onto it during scene transitions.
- Jennet Clouston (the Shaws tenant who curses Ebenezer to David near the start of the book) has a very entertaining expanded role involving much colourful swearing. But at the end she has a change of heart, deciding that if Ebenezer was willing to do something as nice as handing over Shaws to Davie he can't be all bad; she starts flirting with him instead and they go off together happily.
- There's no reference to historical homophobia (apart from a remark by Mr Campbell at the beginning that he expects Davie will be wanting to get married soon, at which Davie looks unenthusiastic; and that sort of thing is hardly historical); in general Alan and Davie's romance is treated like any other. Definitely the right choice for this sort of adaptation.
- Davie's surname is pronounced the standard modern way, for what that's worth.
I must praise the actors, who are all great! I especially liked Malcolm Cumming as Alan, who's got just the right turns from loud flamboyance to emotional sincerity; and Ryan J. MacKay likewise gets both the comedy and the earnestness of Davie very well. Kim Ismay brings to life a brilliant character and narrator as Frances. These are the only singly-cast characters; the ensemble rotate though the rest of the roles, which works very well with the rotating cast of minor characters from the book, and they are all entertainingly memorable in their various ways.
I've said that I thought the show captured the heart of the book very well. It seems slightly over-obvious to say that what I like best about my OTP is how much they like each other, but that really is just it with Davie and Alan; and their mutual fondness and admiration were absolutely here. Both actors were, as I say, very good for their parts (except for being pretty much the same height, but they can't help that) and amongst all the silliness and anachronism and deviation from the book, their relationship was just what it should be... and then, from that solid emotional base, taken the step further to make it explicitly romantic. I can't really overstate how much that meant, even beyond the happy fact of its being my own personal OTP. And the audience loved it, and the reviews and commentary are generally all very good. It is really a beautiful thing.
:') ♥
Now, I wonder if Isobel McArthur has ever heard of Flight of the Heron...
no subject
Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 11:48 am (UTC)It does sound like they got the emotional bits right. I think I'd have winced at Cluny's casino--that's a bit far from canon to me. And it's a pity that they didn't do the actual dialogue of the fight, which is brilliant. However, the introduction of Frances sounds great!
Now, I wonder if Isobel McArthur has ever heard of Flight of the Heron...
Ha! You could write to her? Although honestly, I'm not sure I'd dare to watch a stage adaptation...
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Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 05:49 pm (UTC)I have emailed the NTS and asked about the possibility of a filmed performance, so fingers crossed. (You could write to them too if you like—I suppose if there is any chance, it'll be a greater chance the more people ask!) I did not say anything about Flight of the Heron :P
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Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 12:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 05:07 pm (UTC)It was a brilliant show, I felt they managed to hit the major emotional beats of the story beautifully while still making it gloriously silly and light-hearted. It was just a huge amount of fun. And the casting for Alan and Davie was just perfect.
I do agree it would have been nice to see swords for the fight, but I think I was still trying to recover from how heart-meltingly adorable the first kiss was <333 and the ending was such a lovely way of tying it all together.
I really wish I hadn't booked the last day of the Edinburgh run as I'd love to see it again. Fingers crossed for it being available to stream, or even a cinema showing.
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Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 06:01 pm (UTC)Oh, yes, absolutely—it was brilliant fun and meaningfully emotional and so, so adorable <3
I think I was still trying to recover from how heart-meltingly adorable the first kiss was <333
Hee, that's very understandable. I'm not sure I've recovered from it yet!
I really hope there is a filmed/streamed version, and have written to the NTS asking about it (as well as praising the show very highly—I thought they deserved some proper fanmail :D )—keeping my fingers crossed.
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Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 10:00 pm (UTC)And I'm also crossing my fingers for a filmed version, I may try to overcome my usual awkwardness and write to them as well!
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Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 23rd, 2023 10:29 pm (UTC)I'm glad it's good though! Maybe the fandom will get a little bump <3
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Date: Apr. 24th, 2023 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 24th, 2023 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 24th, 2023 05:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 24th, 2023 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 24th, 2023 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 24th, 2023 09:23 pm (UTC)But to mess around with the quarrel in the heather! I know you said the new version worked, but that scene is sacred to me, and I am Dubious.
Oh, but I wish there would be some option for me to see it, somehow!
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Date: Apr. 25th, 2023 03:50 pm (UTC)To be honest, and from a book-fidelity perspective, the changes made to the quarrel were my least favourite part of it. But I would have been willing to forgive more than that for the sake of canon Alan/Davie, and the thing as a whole was just so utterly lovely that I end up not minding as much as I might have done.
I have written to the NTS asking if there's any possibility of a filmed version—I do hope there is!
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Date: Apr. 25th, 2023 03:59 pm (UTC)Fingers crossed!
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Date: Apr. 29th, 2023 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 30th, 2023 12:01 pm (UTC)