REVIEW

Remains of the Day

Salisbury Playhouse until May 11

KAZUO Ishiguro's novel about love, loss, the poignancy of what might of been and how one judge's the worth of one's life in its autumn years has been adapted for the stage by Barney Norris into a piece that, while it necessarily loses some of the sub-plots and subtleties of the famous film version, captures its essential elements.

Thanks to some very clever stage, lighting and costume design and music, wonderful work by Lily Arnold, Mark Howland, Elena Pena and Sophie Cotton respectively, it also brings another dimension, setting the mood for both the Japanese-born author's lyrical writing and the near-caricature nature of some of the country house scenes.

Stephen Boxer takes on the role of Stevens, the perfect servant, with aplomb, beginning as a perfect example of the 'hear no evil see no evil speak no evil' type, whose standards, set by his upbringing and environment, are so high it seems no-one can ever match them. Gradually, as the play explores the history of his life and the world he lives in, his hidden personality reveals itself as he comes to some bitter realisations about the opportunities he had and missed.

Niamh Cusack takes on the task of playing Miss Kenton, his not-so-quiet, initially equally repressed opposite number as the housekeeper at Darlington Hall, an establishment autocratically ruled by Lord Darlington, one of the many upperclass English gentlemen at that time doing what they consider necessary to avert a Second World War.

Initially a little loud and almost shrill, she grew as the play progressed until it was clear that, while she too regretted some of her choices, her strength of character had served her rather better in life.

Huge credit to movement director Jess Cullingford, whose work led to scene changes that had the formal patterns of English folk dances or Japanese tea ceremonies, while the supporting cast rose to the challenge of playing multiple parts so smoothly at times one wondered ho9w they had changed costume, demeanour and tone without you even noticing, a pleasure to see such actors at work.