THE stage adaption of film classic The Graduate hits the Dolman Theatre in Newport this week.
Adapted for the stage, the play is about a bored, married woman (Mrs Robinson) who secretly seduces a much younger man (Benjamin) after her husband loses interest in her. After Ben’s family insist he takes out Mrs Robinson’s daughter, Elaine, Ben becomes conflicted as he falls for her. Mrs Robinson forbids her daughter from dating Ben, which leads to him revealing his affair with her mum and his subsequent quest to win back Elaine’s heart.
The play is set in America and for the most part the cast’s American accents held up well, though there were a few moments where American blurred into Welsh.
I felt there was a major overuse of character names in the dialogue (which is the case in the film as well), every line seemed to begin with the actors saying either Benjamin, Elaine or Mrs Robinson, but on the whole I thought this was a very solid production.
There were some genuinely funny moments and I enjoyed hearing the music from the film’s soundtrack.
Chris Harris as Benjamin, Kate Summers as Mrs Robinson and Catherine Morgan as Elaine all turned in strong performances in a play which I found most enjoyable.
The Graduate runs from 7.15pm each night this week at the Dolman Theatre with a matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm.
Joshua Nicholas
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