Contemporary adaptation of Emile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin will reinvigorate the work, almost 150 years after it was written.

In 1880s Paris, Thérèse Raquin leads a life of servitude. Her feelings of misery are heightened by an unhappy marriage, and so she initiates an illicit affair with her husband’s friend, Laurent. Fuelled by their passion for one another and their collective hatred towards Thérèse’s husband, the pair devise a murderous plan.

Emile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin (and his subsequent play of the same name) was met by an intense public backlash from the conservative audiences of the late 1870s. To many, the work was obscene and immoral. While its severity might have been diluted by the passing of time, Gary Abrahams promises to reinvigorate the text in his modern adaptation for Melbourne-based company Theatre Works.

“I think that we are much more used to murder mysteries, and sex on stage. It’s not as shocking anymore – I mean, every cop show starts with a dead prostitute on a slab,” said Elizabeth Nabben, who will perform the role of Thérèse. “In a way it’s almost romantic to look back on now. I think this is quite post-modern in that it’s not about...