Choreographer Cathy Marston always had the Joffrey Ballet in mind for ‘Atonement’
Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune
September 5, 2024
Unabashed bibliophile Cathy Marston looks for a three-peat in Chicago as she sets a third literary work on the Joffrey Ballet. Marston’s “Atonement” serves as the opening production of Joffrey’s 2024-25 season, turning Ian McEwan’s evocative 2001 novel (and subsequent Academy Award-winning film) into a first-ever adaptation for the stage.
Marston previously set her widely performed “Jane Eyre” on the Joffrey and created a one-act on “Of Mice and Men” exclusively for Joffrey Ballet in 2022. “Atonement” lies somewhere in the middle: It was dreamed up especially for the Joffrey years ago, before Marston, then a freelance choreographer, accepted the artistic directorship at Ballett Zürich.
“Cathy had mentioned about always wanting to do ‘Atonement,’” said Joffrey Ballet artistic director Ashley Wheater. “I love Ian McEwan’s work. So, for me, that was a shoo-in. As a new story for the stage, it has the heartbreaking drama and a reflection on real people’s lives. I was totally gung ho about it.”
Joffrey settled on a co-production, splitting the cost and the credit with Ballett Zürich, who premiered the ballet in April. Such arrangements are becoming common as new ballets are increasingly cost-prohibitive and the touring model for large ballet companies continues to trend downward. At one point, the Joffrey Ballet was on the road more than it was at home; since moving to Chicago in 1995, its has embarked on just a handful of tour dates each season. (It took 24 years, in fact, to get back to New York). And it’s not the first time Joffrey has embarked on such a partnership — Yuri Possokhov’s 2019 “Anna Karenina” was shared with the Australian Ballet.
During a two-week August residency in Chicago preparing “Atonement” for its October premiere, Marston said she wanted this cross-Atlantic partnership to be different.
“We really wanted it to be more than just a co-production where you make a choreography on one company and then take it to the next,” she said. “Quite honestly, at that point, I knew the dancers better here than I did the ones in Zürich. The relationship has very much been anchored here.”
They worked out a schedule allowing Marston to create portions of the ballet in Chicago before starting her new job, with touchpoints throughout the creative process. Joffrey rehearsal director Adam Blyde joined Marston in Switzerland for six weeks leading up to the world premiere. Another connection: Former Joffrey ballerina Anastacia Holden.
“When I was looking for a rehearsal director for Zürich, Ashley recommended Stacia,” Marston said. “So, she’s now in Zürich and has come back here for two weeks.”
Wheater said not getting the premiere was not a deal breaker, despite the spark for “Atonement’s” realization originating in Chicago. Wheater attended the first few performances, in a sense getting to preview the ballet’s lush costumes (Bregje van Balen), stage design (Michael Levine) and lighting (Martin Gebhardt) in advance. British composer Laura Rossi created the rich original score for Marston, with dramaturgy support from Edward Kemp and Michael Küster.
For Marston, continuing to work with the Joffrey was more than just a cost-sharing exercise.
“I just love coming back,” she said. “Let’s start with the dancers. They’re strong ballet dancers, but they can really move in a contemporary way. They’ve always been able to do that as part of the history of Joffrey. And they’re into telling stories — and that’s obviously my passion.”
“Atonement” begins in 1930s Britain and centers on a precocious aspiring young writer (here, a choreographer) named Briony. As a young girl, she is caught up in a lie, leaving an indelible impact on her life and the lives of those around her. It’s less about the lie itself than it is about regret. Near the sunset of her life, Briony uses the only tool she has, her artistry, to try and set things right. At that point, however, the only real purpose it serves is to make herself feel better.
“Atonement” is right in the pocket for Marston, a lover of rich, layered pieces of literature that feed her affection for storytelling and her affinity for narrative choreography. It’s a love story, filled with a bit of darkness and a not-entirely happy ending.
“Sometimes there are ballets you just want to make, and this was one of those,” Marston said. “I was always drawn to this story of a child on the brink of adulthood and how difficult that hump is when you think you know the world.”
Then there’s the title.
“How can you make up for something that you did?” Marston said. “Thinking that (Briony) could make up for this dreadful thing she did by making a ballet is full of ego. I mean, it’s kind of ridiculous. And yet, I sort of get it.”
Marston relates to Briony’s story when she considers her own. Her job requires her to live far from her aging parents. Her mother has multiple sclerosis.
“I’m pretty absent,” she said. “I’m not able to do any of the things that perhaps other daughters might do. Making a ballet doesn’t really make a difference, but she’s proud. And it does make me feel better.”
While literary works are pro forma for Marston, it is rarer that she tackles a novel outside the public domain by a living author. McEwan gave his permission to make “Atonement,” then stayed out of it until the April premiere in Zürich.
“He really trusted me, which was both liberating and slightly scary,” Marston said, perhaps most nervous about her choice to make Briony a choreographer instead of a writer.
At a dinner, McEwan told Marston he tends to keep his characters at an arm’s length while writing his novels.
“He said, watching the ballet, he’d been ‘emotionally ambushed’ by suddenly seeing his characters up close and felt very overwhelmed,” Marston said. “That made me very happy, as you can imagine.”
“Atonement” runs Oct. 17-27 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive; tickets $36-$189 at 312-386-8905 and joffrey.org