Lady Audley’s Secret
Synopsis
Lady Audley’s Secret is an stage adaptation of the 1862 “sensation” novel by the same name written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. The story centers on the bigamous heroine, Helen Maldon, who deserts her child, pushes husband number one down a well, deceives husband number two as to her true identity and sets fire to a hotel in which both her antagonist and blackmailer are staying.
The story opens with the marriage in 1857 of Lucy Graham, 19, beautiful and childlike, to Sir Michael Audley, 58, a rich widower and baron. Lucy had been governess for the local doctor, but very little is known about her early years. Months later, Sir Michael’s nephew, Robert Audley, a listless barrister, welcomes his old friend George Talboys back to England after three years of successfully prospecting for gold in Australia.
George is devastated when he reads in the newspaper that his wife, Helen, whom he had left when their financial situation became desperate, has died. Some time later, the two set off to visit Sir Michael at Audley Court, his country manor.
Lady Audley goes to great length to avoid meeting George, but when the two are shown a portrait of her, George appears greatly struck by it, though he does not say why. Shortly thereafter, George disappears. Unwilling to believe that George has simply left suddenly without notice, Robert begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Robert becomes suspicious that Lady Audley played a role in the disappearance and that she is not who she claims to be. As he steadily collects evidence that incriminates her, the two engage in an increasingly combative cat-and-mouse duel that culminates in the arson at the hotel and the demise of Lady Audley.
Lady Audley’s Secret is a story about gender and class and the efforts of a young woman desperate to escape abject poverty and achieve wealth and status. Madness is a key issue and the question of whether the female protagonist is insanely driven or a skilled strategist is central to the story. Likewise, the willingness of an aristocratic family to banish her to a foreign asylum under a thinly-veiled diagnosis to avoid the disgrace and publicity of a trial adds another dimension to the question.
The final resolution, which departs from the novel, explores the possibility of reconciliation and even authenticity despite all that transpired.
The play requires seven actors, including a child, Nearly all the actors play multiple roles as specified in the script’s introduction.
