The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie review – Muriel Spark’s extraordinary heroine made more extraordinary still
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh Gayle Rankin is funny, sharp-tongued and sexually forthright as Vicky Featherstone’s production ditches 1930s starchiness for the bohemian avant garde Jean Brodie has entered the classroom of Mr Lowther (Brian Ferguson). She tells the music teacher she will not be a distraction. “Proceed as if I wasn’t here,” she says. Yeah, right. Nothing can proceed as if Jean Brodie was not there. Played…
Key points
- Gayle Rankin plays Miss Jean Brodie in Vicky Featherstone's production at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh.
- The production moves away from 1930s starchiness toward a bohemian avant-garde style.
- Teenage Sandy Stranger, played by Bobby Rainsbury, is the only pupil who sees through Brodie.
A new production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is running at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh. It is directed by Vicky Featherstone for the Royal Lyceum and the National Theatre of Scotland, with David Harrower's adaptation of Muriel Spark's novel.
Gayle Rankin plays the title role. The review describes her performance as funny, sharp-tongued and sexually forthright, and says she makes Spark's extraordinary heroine more extraordinary still.
A bold new staging
The production abandons 1930s starchiness for a bohemian avant-garde style. Rankin wears a drape-sleeved top and figure-hugging leather skirt, slips off zebra-striped heels and walks in bare feet. Chloe Lamford's set is part lecture theatre and part neo-classical staircase, across which Rankin moves like an exotic moth.
Proceed as if I wasn't here
— Jean Brodie
Contradictions and consequences
Brodie's contradictions keep the audience guessing. Her love of Italian art and European fashion sits alongside her admiration for Mussolini, and her elitism is tempered by Spark's political nous and ironic wit. Headteacher Miss Mackay, played by Maureen Beattie, worries about educational attainment, while the review notes that today the concern would be child protection.
Only teenage Sandy Stranger, played by Bobby Rainsbury, sees through her. Sandy brings her down as if Brodie were a Shakespearean hero, too damaged by private losses to see her own flaws. The review says the production, in an age of charismatic leaders, has lessons of its own.
