Remembrance of Things Past - National Theatre

The Play
Introduction 2
Synopsis 2
The production 2
For discussion 4
Practical Exercises 5
Related materials 6
Remembrance of
Things Past
by Marcel Proust, adapted by
Harold Pinter and Di Trevis
Opening: Cottesloe Theatre, 23
November 2000; transferring to
Olivier Theatre, 23 February
2001
See www.nt-online.org for
further production details
Director
Di Trevis
Designer
Alison Chitty
Lighting Designer
Ben Ormerod
Music
Dominic Muldowney
Music Programming
Duncan Chave
Movement Director
Jack Murphy
Sound Designer
Neil Alexander
NT Education Workpack
Remembrance of Things Past
NT Education
Royal National Theatre
South Bank
London SE1 9PX
T (020) 7452 3388
F (020) 7452 3380
E education@nationaltheatre.org.uk
Workpack written by
Sarah Wooley
Staff director
Remembrance of Things Past
Editor
Dinah Wood
Coordinator
Sarah Nicholson
Design
Patrick Eley

Sebastian Harcombe &
Judy Campbell
photo Catherine Ashmore
The play
Introduction
Remembrance of Things Past is an adaptation of
the seven novels by Marcel Proust known
collectively as A la recherche du temps perdu.
Harold Pinter and Di Trevis adapted the play from
a screenplay that Pinter was commissioned to
write in 1972. The film was never made.
However, Di Trevis rediscovered the screenplay
and began to workshop it into a stageplay with
students from the London Academy of Music and
Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in 1998. The students
performed their version of Remembrance of
Things Past in a rehearsal room at the National
Theatre where it was seen by Trevor Nunn. He
suggested that Di Trevis should stage the play in
the Cottesloe Theatre with the 2000 Ensemble.
Synopsis
Remembrance of Things Past is a journey back
in time through the eyes of Marcel, played at the
National by the actor Sebastian Harcombe. At
the beginning of the play Marcel is walking to the
Guermantes’ reception, he slips and falls in the
snow. The sensation of falling reminds him of the
time when he tripped on two uneven paving
stones in the Baptistery of St. Marks. As Marcel
arrives at the reception more memories come
flooding back. He hears the sound of a waiter
dropping a spoon on a plate which triggers off
another memory of a line of trees seen from a
railway carriage. At the reception Marcel meets
many faces from the past but everyone is so old
that they are almost unrecognisable. It is here
that we are introduced to the many characters
that we will see in flashback throughout the play.
But it is Odette played by Fritha Goodey who
first takes us physically far back in time. When
talking to Marcel she recalls her first husband
Charles Swann (played by Duncan Bell). Swann
appears, Odette is transformed into her younger
self and Marcel’s memories begin to unfold as he
remembers his childhood at Combrey, his
holidays in Balbec, his days in Paris and all the
important people who shaped and informed his
life.
The Production
A phrase that I heard Di Trevis use many times
during rehearsals was, “We are not doing the
novels, we are not doing the screenplay, we are
doing the play”. This production had to be a
theatrical event. Yet if we look at the play we see
moments that appear to have their roots in film.
For example the freeze frame technique used
when both the Vinteuil piano pieces are played
for the first time and the flashbacks that appear
as images during the play. These moments give
the play a very unique quality, making the
production hard to categorise. We had to create
a Proust dreamscape.
From the first day of rehearsals it was
important that the actors were familiar with the
manners and movement of the period. All the
actors wore bits of costume in the rehearsal
room. People used to wearing jeans and trainers
every day were able to spend time wearing long
skirts and leather dress shoes. Jack Murphy, the
movement director, worked on waltzing,
reverencing and status for many weeks, right up
until the play’s opening night. It was important
national theatre education workpack 2

Sebastian Harcombe
photo Catherine Ashmore
The play
that this new way of moving became second
nature to the actors.
Di Trevis is a Director who uses many
exercises as part of her rehearsal process. For
example in the Balbec scenes we see the little
band of girls. They play in the sea, fool about in
the restaurant, jump over the old man and have a
picnic. During rehearsals we spent a long time
improvising these situations before we even
looked at the text. The actors even went right out
of the building and down to the Thames on one
occasion dragging their bike, picnic baskets and
equipment with them.
Di Trevis also likes the actors to improvise the
scenes that we don’t see but have a bearing on
the scenes that we do see. For example if we
look at the scene where Marcel’s father
introduces Marcel to the Marquis De Norpois.
Norpois is a very pompous man who thinks that
he is the authority on writing as a career. Paul
Ritter (Marcel’s father) and John Burgess
(Norpois) improvised a scene where Marcel’s
father asks Norpois to visit the house to give
Marcel advice about writing. The improvisation
took place in an imagined gentlemen’s club
where the two characters felt comfortable
smoking cigars and drinking brandy. The two men
talked about many things until Marcel’s father
tentatively raised the question of Marcel’s writing.
We could see from this improvisation that it was
awkward for him to ask Norpois for help, as he
believed him to be a very important figure. We
then played the scene that was written and the
tension for both Marcel and his father was very
evident. There was a lot at stake both for Marcel
and for his father.
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Duncan Bell & Fritha Goodey
photo Catherine Ashmore
For discussion
If you’ve seen the production
1
Music
Dominic Muldowney wrote the music for
Remembrance of Things Past. During rehearsals
Di Trevis said that the music is like another
character in the play. Do you agree? What was
the role of the music in this production and how
did it inform the play?
2
Design
Describe the set for Remembrance of Things
Past. How did the designer achieve the many
different locations in the play? How important a
role did costume play in this production?
3
Movement
The Movement Director for Remembrance of
Things Past was Jack Murphy. Where do you
think movement occurred in the production? If
you were the Movement Director on
Remembrance of Things Past what would be
your starting point?
And even if you haven’t
1
Adaptation
What problems do you think you might encounter
when adapting a novel into a play? Can you
suggest ways in which you could overcome these
problems?
2
Design
The action in Remembrance of Things Past takes
place in many different locations. If you were the
Designer how would you approach a play like
Remembrance of Things Past?
3
Inspiration
Characters in the play describe Marcel as a
writer. However, throughout the play Marcel
always denies this. What finally makes Marcel
want to write? What are his inspirations?
4
View of Delt
Discuss the significance of the Vermeer painting
‘View Of Delt’.
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Indira Varma &
Sebastian Harcombe
photo Catherine Ashmore
Practical Exercises
1
Look at the scene between Norpois, Marcel’s
father and Marcel. Read the scene. The actor
playing Marcel should now write the Steeples
poem. Play the scene again this time using the
newly written prose poem. How does this affect
the scene?
2
Look at photographs or paintings from Proust’s
time. Split into groups and, choosing a picture,
re-create a three-dimensional version of the
scene. Perhaps if you have any old bits of
costume you could use them here. Once the
picture is in place improvise the scene. Then after
a few minutes freeze-frame the action back into a
picture. How different is the scene from a
modern setting? Do the costumes have any
bearing on the way your character behaved?
3
Look at the Backstage scene. There may only be
four characters speaking but the scene is very
busy and populated with people. Imagine you are
the Director of Remembrance of Things Past.
Who would you include in your Backstage
scene? Cast the characters then improvise. Who
are the other characters in the Backstage scene?
How old are they? What do they look like? What
are they doing backstage and how did they end
up there?
4
Francoise tells the little Marcel that M. Swann is
“an intimate acquaintance of the President of the
Republic himself”. That his Coachman says he
“dines with Princesses.” Improvise the scene
between the Coachman and Francoise gossiping.
What does this tell us about Francoise and her
role in the household?
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Oliver Williams &
members of the company
photo Catherine Ashmore
Related Materials
Marcel Proust: Remembrance of Things Past
A series of seven novels published by Penguin
Classics translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff
Harold Pinter: The Proust Screenplay
Appears in a collection together with other
Screenplays by Pinter. Published by Faber and
Faber
Harold Pinter: Plays 1–4
These collections include Pinter’s best known
plays. Published by Faber and Faber
Time Regained
A film by Raul Ruiz (2000)
The National is publishing a rehearsal diary of
Remembrance of Things Past by Di Trevis. For
further details please contact the National's
bookshop on:
T 020 7452 3456
F 020 7452 3457
E bookshop@nationaltheatre.org.uk
national theatre education workpack 6