THEATER REVIEW : A Meticulous Adaptation of Stormy ‘Wuthering Heights’

Forbidden passions, dark vengeance, ghostly visitations--all the requisite trappings abound in the Knightsbridge Theatre’s production of that mother of all Harlequin romances, “Wuthering Heights.”

What elevates Emily Bronte’s classic 1847 novel above its countless imitators is the brooding intensity of its tragically flawed characters. Charles Vance’s meticulous adaptation affords ample opportunity for Deborah Riecks and Joseph P. Stachura to smolder as the star-crossed Catherine and Heathcliff, at least in the more vigorous and confrontational second act.

Nor does director Sharon Higgins flinch from showing us their unpleasant sides. Stachura’s Heathcliff is from the outset a surly grouch, while Riecks’ Catherine is frequently given to abusive tantrums. Our distaste for this self-absorbed pair is overcome, however, by the fierceness of their love, which contrasts so starkly with the pale propriety surrounding them--as embodied in Catherine’s weak-willed aristocrat husband (Dan Wingard) and her craven brother (Max Hirschmann). On a more sympathetic note, Lara Doucette brings quietly aggrieved dignity to the naive young girl Heathcliff marries and torments out of revenge.

Unfortunately, Vance’s overly-faithful adaptation fails to discriminate between the story’s essential dramatic vision and its purely literary conventions. The use of two narrators (James Newman and Leanna Nelson) was a device to create the illusion of authenticity in the relatively new fictional genre of Bronte’s era. But it makes a clunky transition to the stage: When they have to stand around self-consciously through scenes in which they have no part, it only calls attention to the artifice.

* ‘Wuthering Heights,” Knightsbridge Theatre, 35 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5 p.m. Ends Oct. 8. $15. (818) 440-0821. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.