The Tenant of Wildfell Hall- Play Review

     Whenever the word "play" comes into mind, I always picture a very sophisticated and intricate theatre with a grand stage, delicate costumes and the most unique props that one can ever imagine. The crowd would be full of people who give off an aura of such grace and elegance. Therefore, I never really imagined myself going to a play; I would feel and be out of place. However,  I finally got to experience a play that completely and utterly proved me wrong. The play that I'm talking about is: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

      Let me start off with some things that I absolutely loved about the play. First off, the simplicity of the props. Don't get me wrong, the costumes were spot on, every lock of hair was in place, and the theatre itself gave off a very classic, but modern feel.  However, being able to create a link of communication with the audience through just a simple movement of chairs was quite bewildering. They would have the chairs aligned in certain places and only those places for certain settings, which I found really interesting because I've never seen anybody do that successfully before. As well, there were several unexpected plot twists. All of the characters had little secrets, though I'm not going to mention them for the sake of spoilers. Nonetheless, I will say that the actors were evidently well chosen, and I for one, found the accents fun and enjoyable because they made the time period of the play that much more realistic. In the same fashion, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see Helen's story unfold bit by bit: why she acts the ways she does, why she keeps people at arm's length away, and why she really can't bring herself to love although she wants to so badly. It's literally right in front of your face; the raw, painful, heartbroken side of her, tugging at your heartstrings

     There were many "yes!" occasions in the play; many things that I loved and will continue to love about the play. However, there were a few drawbacks as well. First off, I wish that the son would have shown up a little bit more. I mean, he was the reason why Helen couldn't escape from her husband and the first reason why the townspeople thought oddly of her. Despite this, his character seemed to fizzle out and appear less and less as we got deeper into the story regarding his family. It would've been nice to see what he thought of his father, how his father treated him, if he knew what his mother was going through and if he even liked Helen's new man himself. Speaking of which, I was really curious if Helen's husband was even looking for her. He said he would find and force her back, but throughout the play, him trying to actually find her wasn't mentioned at       all... Correspondingly, a deeper connection would've been made if the husband's brutality and heartlessness was shown a bit more.

     Aside from a couple drawbacks, the Tenant of Wildfell Hall was a remarkable play. If I had to pick one reason; one really impactful, amazing, and persuading reason why I would encourage people to watch this play is because of: the relationships. The play didn't romanticize the idea of falling head over heels for somebody, like most modern, fairytale-like love stories do. It portrayed the other, more uglier side of love that many people do feel but never show: the loneliness, hopelessness, and the feeling of no escape, that modern society often fails to convey. I thought that only one love relationship would go stereotypically wrong; with the quarrels and the handsome guy that attracts all of the ladies. However, many relationships, both friendships and love, went terribly wrong, yet terribly right. I truly loved this play and really recommend that everyone go see it, for it's one of the few plays that will leave you speechless, in the best way possible.