Lookingglass Theatre Company’s take on Charlotte Bronte’s 1853 gothic novel “Villette” features sumptuous visuals and a skilled, charismatic ensemble. Unfortunately, those significant attributes can’t quite overcome a choppy adaptation that renders Bronte’s rich, sprawling story thin and disjointed and shortchanges its characters.
Clocking in at just over two and a half hours, Sara Gmitter’s adaptation of “Villette,” directed by Tracy Walsh, feels abridged to the point of incompleteness. The novel spans several decades, two countries and has roughly a dozen significant characters. Gmitter has deleted half the characters and relegated the story’s earlier years to brief bits of narration — both choices that leave the story missing crucial pieces of context.
