Belvoir's big adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk's novel is an epic, at over three hours with two intermissions. It's an ambitious work - I'm not sure that all the ambitions are realised but there's a lot that this is going into - a murder mystery about an elderly Polish woman believing that the town's animals are beginning to rise up against humans, looking at small town relationships, corruptions, science, astrology and some literary allusions.
Pamela Rabe narrates over 95% of the show and does it in fine style - it's a virtuoso performance where a lot of the big emotional effects are in the last 10-15 minutes and she nails them in a tireless performance that keeps us engaged throughout. The rest of the cast is a mixture of talented performers mostly in smallish cameos and working as an ensemble to create environments and play animals, scenery and occasionally murder victims. Eamon Flack's adaptation is a tad saggy and his direction does suggest that a couple of rehearsal improvs have stuck around into the production more than maybe they should have (there's a bit with a remote controlled car that really does feel awkwardly stretched out), but it moves across the several seasons of story with some striking visuals (with the particular assistance of lighting designer Morgan Maroney and the hardworking stage crew of Luke McGettigan as we move from winter snowdrifts through spring, summer and autumn.
This is probably the definition of a mixed bag - I like some of the non-Rabe cast enough to wish that they had more to do than be visual scenery a lot of the time, and I'm torn between wanting a brisker version that just tells the centre of the narrative and appreciating some of the charm and meatiness of the diversions. And god knows, the theatrical canon needs more fat parts for women over 60, and this certainly does give Rabe a hell of one. But this doesn't entirely taste fully baked, even while some of the elements are strong.
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