NTS: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh 9/10/26
National Theatre of Scotland production in partnership with the Royal Lyceum Theatre
Vicky Featherstone director
The name Jean Brodie has become embedded in common parlance thanks to the iconic film from 1969 where Maggie Smith made the role of the charismatic teacher of young girls her own. That adaptation of Muriel Spark’s 1961 novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which is part of the canon of Scottish literature, has been a hard act to follow. Until now.
Writer David Harrower had his original adaptation presented at the London’s Donmar Warehouse in 2018 and a new version has been developed in this commission by the National Theatre of Scotland.
Set in the fictitious Marcia Blaine School for Girls in 1930s Edinburgh, the story circles round the eponymous central character who is something of a maverick teacher in a conservative school where she prefers Giotto to geometry; Italy to itinerary, singling out girls in her class that she sees as ‘Heroines in the making’. But favouritism comes at a price to all concerned – pupils and fellow teachers alike.
None of the essence of the original text is lost in this fabulously stylised version. Like Spark’s work, timelines are not linear but beyond that it has been heightened to a degree that transforms an already fascinating narrative to a visual and aural delight.
Chloe Lamford’s art deco set of semi-circular dusky pink steps, fittingly like a section of a Roman amphitheatre, are encased on three sides by giant curtains that serve as screens for Lewis den Hertog’s stunning video design.
From Jean Brodie’s initial outfit that mockingly imitates the bat wings of a teacher’s gown to the militaristic and futuristic suit she has in part 2, Anna Orton’s costume designs are nothing short of magnificent. All these creations are carried with panache by the excellent Gayle Rankin who has in her turn made the title role her very own. Add to this the subtle switch of the girls’ smock uniforms to diaphanous black, alluding to their maturing and sexual awakening and you have style and couture that chimes with the themes.
Vicky Featherstone brilliantly directs this superb cast that includes Brian Ferguson who brings subtle humour to the obsequious fellow teacher Gordon Lowther, and the wonderful Maureen Beattie as tweedy headmistress Miss MacKay whose authoritative voice issues housekeeping rules to the audience before curtain up. Both are polar opposites to Brodie, so serve to accentuate her eccentricities.
Females may be at the centre of this tale that is bursting with complexities, but within it lies the irony that Brodie herself has no female role model. She reveres Mussolini and harks back to her ancestor Deacon William Brodie who lived a double life as a criminal.
The character of Jean Brodie may have been narcissistic and manipulative when in her prime but can be seen as an ultimate lesson in the dangers of living a vicarious life. Purists may hark back to a more conventional interpretation of Spark’s work, but this production shows Spark’s story with a brave and beautiful boldness that captivates from start to end.
Photo credit: Mihaela Bodlovic
This review was first publiushed by Radio Summerhall Arts