Nonlinear storytelling

Hello, Everyone!!

Sorry for such a long delay. I unfortunately had a bad case of influenza that knocked me off my feet. However, I am so happy that I’m able to report again on all of the exciting events that are taking place within the production of Wuthering Heights, and its good to be back.

One unique difference between the book and our adaptation of Wuthering Heights is the timeline in which the story is presented. The book starts off with Mr. Lockwood in the winter of 1801. Mr. Lockwood reads a portion of Cathy Earnshaw’s diary, which leads to the housekeeper, Nelly, telling the story of Wuthering Heights that began nearly thirty years earlier.

Elise Kauzlaric, our director, and Christina Calvit, the adaptor, were both intrigued by how all the characters were stuck within a seemingly inescapable cycle of revenge. In collaboration, they came up with an exciting opportunity for nonlinear storytelling. In our production, the audience experiences the events of the first generation directly alongside the events of the second. Within the story of Wuthering Heights, this provides an opportunity to see the direct consequences of the characters’ actions in the play. For example, the abuse Hindley inflicts upon Heathcliff cycles into Heathcliff’s mistreatment of Hindley. Nelly, in our adaptation, lives in the future while being haunted by the ever-present memories of the past. She relives these memories to try to understand what went wrong- who can be redeemed and who cannot be forgiven?

It will be exciting to see how these circles we find within the narrative develop within the next few weeks.

Tiffany Keane