The Collector
The Vaults, Waterloo
4 August 2016
3 Stars
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In terms of venue, the creative team behind The Collector could not have picked a more perfect location than The Vaults for a play set in a captor’s cellar. The concrete lined tunnels underneath the station resemble an old fashioned take on a nuclear bunker, and the regular trains rumbling ominously overhead only add to the claustrophobic nature of this deeply unsettling play.
Based on the 1963 novel by John Fowles, The Collector tells the story of disturbed loner Frederick Clegg, who becomes obsessed with art student Miranda Grey. Determined to make her fall in love with him, he kidnaps Miranda and locks her in the cellar of a remote cottage he has purchased with a recent windfall. Once there however, Miranda is less than affectionate towards Frederick, and soon he realises that this dream girl doesn’t quite measure up to his idealised vision of her.
After some shaky opening minutes, Daniel Portman (Game of Thrones) thoroughly gets into his stride as the obsessive Frederick. An unpredictable performance that feeds the audience a story bit by tantalising bit until the full extent of Frederick’s mental state becomes shockingly clear.
Lily Loveless (Naomi in Skins) as Miranda is well cast as the middle class art student trying to be a bohemian. Loveless artfully captures the ugly sides of Miranda’s personality, her sharp intelligence, and her desperate tactics to survive, succeeding in taking this character beyond the bounds of stereotype.
The set is simple, yet lends itself well to both story and venue. Draped plastic sheeting around the stage suggests something of a crime scene, and this is illuminated beautifully at appropriate moments. Metal shelves full of supplies and stacked furniture lining the edges re-emphasise the bunker image and the extent of Frederick’s plans, but there are also some unnecessary musical interludes which break some of the much needed tension.
Unfortunately some of Fowles’ original novel doesn’t quite translate to the stage and Mark Healy’s script often raises laugh at an inappropriate moment. Pacing is a serious issue in both acts, and the final scene, which should highlight Frederick’s horrifying determination to attempt another kidnapping, drags on for too long. There are large sections of text delivered directly to the audience throughout, which can come across as clunky and awkward, but the back and forth exchanges between the two characters are excellent, highlighting the ludicrous nature of the situation they have gotten themselves into. While Healy has just about managed to retain the novels deeply unsettling nature, he has done so by ignoring its dual narrative and focusing more on Frederick’s side of things, despite the character’s opening insistences that ‘there are two sides to every story’. That there may be, but we only get a short glimpse into Miranda’s side, and when we do it’s fairly non-revelatory stuff about her own self-doubt.
Despite its moments of clumsiness, this is a well-designed and finely acted production, and is worth a trip for the atmospheric venue alone. An interesting adaption, while The Collector doesn’t quite ensnare its audience, it certainly unnerves them.
The Collector runs until 28 August
