Believable and absorbing, The Heiress sucked its audience back to the 1850s in a haze of cigar smoke. With audience members from as far away as Cairo companionably ensconced on cushions, the intimacy of the Drama Barn was paralleled by the play’s compelling look into the downward spiral of a fractured family. The Heiress, superbly directed by Hannah Tahry, immediately absorbed everyone present through its astute and human observations about life and love.
A story about awkward young lady Catherine Sloper, living in the shadow of her dead mother and disapproving father, the play focused on the attentions of penniless suitor Morris Townsend to Catherine. Despite the sometimes wavering American accents adopted, the performance remained charmingly genuine, offering striking reflections on the follies and foibles of families and the risky business of love. Innovative use was made of the space, with clever placement of the actors and the proximity of the audience creating the feeling of being inside the play.
The excellent quality of the nine-piece cast allowed the audience to catch every hint of emotion on stage. The subtlety of the plot was reflected in the facial expressions of the actors, with Jess O’Shaugnessy as the eccentric aunt, Mrs Penniman, particularly standing out. The entire cast were completely in character, presenting a convincing exploration of resentment and frustration within the family. The interaction between characters was especially engaging, grabbing the audience and dragging them along on the family’s journey into disaster.
Polly Jordan was both brilliantly suited and totally engrossing as Catherine, the young heiress – her initial vulnerability giving way to a shocking self-imposed cruelty and bitterness. Catherine’s descent into tortured viciousness was brutal to watch, yet no one could tear their eyes away. The father-daughter dynamic between Catherine and Dr Sloper was touchingly portrayed, its many facets all credibly yet subtly examined. Morris Townsend (James Esler), Catherine’s love interest, was a fascinatingly slippery character, with the audience kept guessing about his integrity right to the final scene. Their first kiss had the curious effect of transforming the intimate feel of the audience to one of discomfort, skilfully portraying the inequality within the relationship. Harry Ward did excellent justice to the desperation and deterioration of Dr Sloper, particularly as the intensity of the action increased and his role as father became more and more undermined.
The play progressed into a darker place, with a striking scene between Morris and Dr Sloper emphasising the stark, gritty tension and violent undercurrents between the two men. However, frequent injections of farcical yet entertaining humour prompted several laughs, with the discrepancy between truth and lies wittily depicted by Mrs Penniman. The emotional range of The Heiress managed to span from a fictional drinking problem to the raw cruelty of a loveless father. The suspenseful interval and rising tension in the second half of the play brought The Heiress to a violent and powerful climax, and the passion and power behind the performance did everyone involved credit.