Christopher Hampton’s absorbing stage version of Stefan Zweig’s epistolary work ups the anti by shifting and sharing the perspectives of his characters
First there was Letter from an Unknown Woman, a novella by Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig, written between the wars in 1922. In the novella, the 'unknown woman' declares her passionate love to the addressee of the eponymous letter, successful and charismatic Viennese Jewish writer 'R'. But R, who is used to having women fall at his feet, fails to realise that the letter writer is the daughter of a neighbour, now moved away, who had had a girlhood crush on him, despite glimpses into her life story in the letter. Ironically, the novella became one of Zweig’s best-known works of fiction, inspiring films set in the USA, Mexico, Egypt and China, an opera in Russian and other musical works.
Now, playwright Christopher Hampton has written a stage drama based on the story, adding to the tension by moving most of the action to the 1930s, though it shifts backwards and forwards in time. He also gives the male protagonist ('R' in the novella) the name Stefan, making the play more directly autobiographical. It opens in 1934, when it was becoming clearer to an uneasy Europe that a second all-consuming war was all too likely. In reality, Zweig felt threatened by antisemitism and the rise of the Nazis, a fear that eventually forced him to flee Austria and go into exile, first to England and then Brazil. In February 1942, despairing at the destruction in Europe. he killed himself, together with his second wife, Lotte.
Hampton's play begins with an inspired plot twist and an insight into Stefan’s lifestyle. The visit is by invitation. The audience gradually becomes aware that he has history with the confident young woman, who has left her partner at a top Vienna jazz club, where she meets Stefan, to slip away with him. She is his former neighbour, Marianne. As a young girl, she had lived in that very apartment block. She has adored him for years, but she had moved away and he simply hasn't recognised her. He brings her back to his bachelor apartment, where they fall into each other’s arms and share a nightcap – before sharing his bed. Although she is aware that he has not recognised her, she does not share her identity with him: that she is the young girl who had a crush on him and who watched the comings and goings of the many women in his life.
From the get-go, Natalie Simpson’s striking Marianne relishes the situation. Yet she is also piqued and, although she plays her cards well, seemingly impressed by the famous writer’s monochrome bachelor apartment and asking leading questions, it is clear she is frustrated, even angry, when Johann, Stefan’s dignified valet (pitch perfect Nigel Hastings) does not recognise her.
James Corrigan’s Stefan is nuanced and believable, and particularly impressive because he has stepped into the role after the original Stefan, Thomas Levin, had to withdraw. He comes over as attractive, with a sense of entitlement, narcissistic even, spoilt by his success as a writer and a lover.
The unfolding narrative goes back and forth over years, with Jessie Gattward making her professional debut as the Young Marianne, slipping wraithlike in and out of focus.
Chelsea Walker’s direction is as clear and uncluttered as Rosanna Vize’s design of the spacious bachelor apartment, adorned only with a spectacular vase of white roses. The stark surroundings and cold lighting hint at the encroaching menace in the world outside the flat, alluded to briefly when Stefan mentions that it is "not an easy time to be a Jewish writer".
There are more revelations and plot twists throughout, personal tragedies and relationships aired. Yet, although it's intriguing, it is also confusing. There are constant shifts in time and the timelines can blur, but it repays close concentration, for it is never less than absorbing.
By Judi Herman
Photos by Marc Brenner
Visit from an Unknown Woman runs until Saturday 27 July. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). £25-£55, concs from £25, £10 students/under-30s. Hampstead Theatre, NW3 3EU. hampsteadtheatre.com