The Arts Club Theatre Company has brought the cinema to the stage with the opening of Farewell, My Lovely at the Granville Island Stage. While the Raymond Chandler classic detective novel has been put to film three times and performed as radio plays, this is the first stage adaptation. The new play was developed as a Silver Commission Project, the Arts Club’s program for fostering new works.
Adapted by Aaron Bushkowsky, Farewell, My Lovely tightens the plot to fit the stage and keeps the plot moving along to suit live theatre. The very sparse set decorations are offset by the projections of film-noiresque clips and the costuming, especially the females, brings the 1940’s spirit to life. While the clean set design, resulted in some sanitizing of the grit expected from a detective crime story, the performances mostly fit their enigmatic characters in the adaptation. Even though the plot has been trimmed there is still plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested in the 2 hour performance.
Farewell, My Lovely plays at The Arts Club Granville Island stage until May 2nd.