The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has to be one of the most successful adaptations I have seen on a stage. I think what has made this adaptation so successful is they weren’t afraid to deviate from the source material. It was very evident that the short story was used as a scaffold that they were able to build their story on top of.
The first diversion from the source material was the location. The short story was originally set in Baltimore, but the musical is set in Cornwall. Setting the play in Cornwall gives them a very unique and specific cultural reference point for the set, costumes, and music of this show. It allows for the organic nature of the sea shanties and the instruments being played by the entire cast. It allows for the rustic dock setting with all the accoutrements that can be transformed into the various locations throughout the musical. It gives us the small town feeling of everyone knowing everyones’ business that builds the intimacy between the ensemble that invites you into the show. All in all it was a genius diversion from the source material. It also gives a cultural reference point that is more easily accessible, not only to English actors, but to the English audiences. Another diversion was the way women are treated in the script versus the way they are treated in the short story. In the short story women are often overlooked, objectified, or boiled down to their looks or what they can do for the men around them. In the play this could not be more different. Women are given a true voice. The treatment of the mother was the first instance. In the short story Benjamin Button’s mother is never mentioned. Not once. We are told that the baby is born, she has no name, no story. In the musical she is given a voice. However, I don’t agree with her decisions and the way she treated her son made me enraged, she is given a storyline and we are able to give her a voice. We are able to understand the guilt and shame she feels not having been able to carry and give birth to a “normal” baby. We understand that even if we don’t agree with the way she handled things, she did struggle and she is a vital part of Benjamin’s story. With the introduction of Elowen Keene, we see her as a carefree woman with an immense love of life and the act of living it. She wants the most out of life, she wants fun and adventure and to do the unexpected. We focus not on her beauty, but her immense spirit and fearlessness. Benjamin falls in love, not with her looks, but with her soul. In the short story, there is a lot mentioned of Elowen’s beauty and it gives the impression that all Elowen has to offer the world is her youth and her beauty, both of which are fleeting. It puts a time clock on Elowen’s agency and ability to live her life. Once her youth and beauty is gone she can no longer live the life that she wants. In the musical Elowen fights societal norms and takes life in her own hands. She refuses to marry, against her mothers wishes. She leaves the village in search of a life she loves, also against her mother’s wishes. She is independent and free thinking. Her love for Benjamin never wavers, even after his secret is revealed. She is headstrong and opinionated in the most beautiful and authentic ways that make her more than a pawn in a man’s world.
There is much more that could be said about how brilliant this piece was, and how vital it is in a world where division is more common than community. But I will leave you with, it is a triumph. It is exactly what theater should be and where new work should be headed. I can’t wait to see the show that Benjamin Button will inspire.
Theatre in London U of A 