With just under a week remaining till the opening of EUTC’s After The Ball, I sat down with writer-director Benjamin Freckleton to discuss his ambitious adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic. Adapting any beloved author is difficult, let alone adapting from one of the most celebrated names in literature; Freckleton’s interpretation of the text is decisively engaging, modern and completely transformative from the original short story.
“I approach anything that I want to adapt with absolutely no preciousness,” he explains. This version of After The Ball isn’t recreating Tolstoy’s narrative (though there are many similarities in plot) but rather re-examining the text’s ideas and themes from a new lens. We both acknowledge the inevitability that audiences will arrive in the theatre with their personal preconceptions about the text, but Freckleton hopes “people will treat it more as its own thing, and its own piece of media, rather than judge it by how faithful it is.” He adds “I’m not interested in adapting it to the stage at all, I’m interested in taking interesting things out of it and doing something new with them.”
And why do something new with a story all about state-sponsored cruelty in 19th century Russia? Freckleton remarks that the play, though an older, classic text, is deeply pertinent for modern audiences, particularly in its reflections on class, desensitisation to violence and questions about where responsibility for this violence and oppression lies. For him, when first reading the short story, it initially seemed to be all about, “the idea of the two faced nature of the class system:” the juxtaposition between the fantasy of the upper class, and the reality of the lower class. Whilst class conflict and violence remains central to the play, Freckleton explains that the issue is he’s most interested in exploring is a relatively small aspect of the original text; the juxtaposition between those characters who “face up to the violence” versus those who ‘turn a blind eye to it’. He relates this to contemporary reflections and experiences on how we should react to our constant exposure to brutal imagery of war, violence and death online—can we be blamed for our anxiety and overwhelm making us ‘turn a blind eye’ to it? Narrowing the play down to one essential question, Freckleton asks, “Once you’ve seen violence, what do you do with it?”
We touch on his decisions regarding discarding and preserving certain elements of the original story. He explains that the backdrop of 19th century provincial Russia was “crucial” to the original Russian audience —that’s “why I wanted to completely remake it,” he continues, suggesting that his new setting, 1940s England, “makes more sense” for his British audience because “part of the relevance of the story is how close it is to home for the readership.”
Similarly, he has altered characterisation in an effort to make the play especially resonant for his contemporary audience. The protagonist, Ivan (a middle class character who Tolstoy writes as observing the behaviors and actions of fellow members of his class) has been transformed into Jack, who Freckleton defines as a “working class man who’s been invited into this [..] class structure above him.” These changes serve to “accentuate the differences” between class groups and diversify the discussion on class from the original text.
If these radical and engaging interrogations of the story’s key ideas weren’t exciting enough, the production’s captivating stage design sounds enough to lure any theatre-lover to Bedlam next week. “Because it’s such a concise, impactful story, it lent itself to being a really concise play, Freckleton tells me, alluding to his unusual decision to run the play in just 45 minutes, using a late-night 11pm slot.” These choices are both to aid the atmosphere and setting of the play itself, but also to bring ‘double-bill’ culture (where two plays run back-to-back, a very popular custom in 90s and 2000s Bedlam) back to the theatre.Additionally, the production plans to move through multiple spaces throughout the theatre, offering a completely unique experience for audience members.
The play is very much a group effort, and has required a huge amount of dedication and trust between cast and crew. “I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together already, I’m so proud of all the actors who are doing an absolutely amazing job. [..] That will be the really proud moment, opening night,” Freckleton reflects at the end of our discussion, excitedly and nervously looking forward to the final week of rehearsals.
After The Ball runs at Bedlam Theatre from the 14 to 17 October. Buy tickets here.
