It’s almost impossible to make the luminescent Keira Knightley look doughty and unattractive. But garbed in a plain print dress which fits like a wet paper bag, and sporting a parted-in-the-middle, unflattering hairdo, her Therese Raquin nearly succeeds. It doesn’t help that Knightley’s expression remains blank and unwavering through almost the entire first act, and that she rarely speaks. She is a desperate French woman, locked in an arranged marriage to the insufferable Camille (Gabriel Ebert), from which she can’t escape. Or can she?
Into the frame steps Camille’s handsome friend Laurent (Matt Ryan); their mad passion is Therese’s way out. They immediately indulge in what may be the least erotic sex scenes ever to be presented on a Broadway stage. Their lovemaking is so quick and mundane (foreplay, anyone?) we are left wondering how Therese’s intimate relationship with Camille could possibly be any worse.
A plan is hatched, and Camille ends up dead in the water during a boating “accident.” That there’s real water involved may be the high point of excitement during the evening. Therese and Laurent jump into the drink, too, to make their story more plausible. Almost immediately, guilt overtakes Therese, and Laurent is revealed as a total cad. Camille’s mother (Judith Light) has had her lawyer draw up papers deeding everything to the newly married Therese and Laurent. Big mistake. It turns out that Laurent is much more interested in the family money than anything else and quickly becomes quite the roué. That Therese and he are apparently being haunted by her late husband (who is markedly reminiscent of Hamlet’s spectral father) doesn’t stop them from carrying on as usual, including weekly games of dominoes with friends. A fly lands squarely in the ointment when Madame Raquin overhears a fight which informs her that her son was murdered. She has a fit and can no longer talk, but very nearly reveals the truth to the convivial gathering. It’s no surprise that the two culprits will not live happily ever after. Their fighting and animosity do make for a livelier second act, but the audience must plow through the interminable first act to get there. The sad fact is that Therese Raquin is a snooze fest. We can only hope that for her second project on the Broadway stage, the exquisite Ms. Knightley will choose a vehicle more closely aligned with her charm and magnetism. This is a star who deserves to shine brightly.
