Thérèse Raquin: A Play

Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to her first cousin by an overbearing aunt who may seem to be well-intentioned but in many ways is deeply selfish. Therese’s husband, Camille, is sickly and egocentric, and when the opportunity arises, Thérèse enters into a turbulent and sordidly passionate affair with one of Camille’s friends, Laurent. In his preface, Zola explains that his goal in this novel was to “study temperaments and not characters” and he compares the novel to a scientific study. Because of this detached and scientific approach, Thérèse Raquin is considered an example of Naturalism. “… Zola allows no rest from the pervasive gloom and neither does Neal Bell in his ambitious, intelligent adaptation. Bell stimulates both our voyeurism and our moral sensibilities, and he honors Zola’s exquisite sense of cultural detail …” Carol Burbank, Chicago Reader

“Neal Bell’s exciting new adaptation, from the novel, keeps the grit and erotic animality, but throws out the cumbersome apparatus, letting the sordid story breathe and compressing it into a series of tight, poetically written short scenes, using the grotesque tiny details to imply feelings and situations in vivid shorthand: Naturalism as haiku.” -Michael Feingold, The Village Voice

“Naturalism and expressionism collide with shattering effectiveness in THÉRÈSE RAQUIN. Emile Zola’s seminal work of naturalistic fiction caused an international scandal when published in 1867. Zola’s blunt, unprettified representation of the most sordid elements of life infidelity, murder, madness and suicide seemed revolutionary in the context of his time. Especially remarkable was Zola’s gritty portrayal of his eponymous central character Therese, a brilliantly radical departure from the simpering female prototypes of Victorian convention. Playwright Neal Bell’s expressionistic adaptation of Zola’s masterwork is both allusive and bold. Bell, who understands that less is more, tersely renders a psychological suspense story that keeps us on the edge of our seats.” -F Kathleen Foley, The Los Angeles Times