New Jersey Stage 2015 - Issue 10 | Page 120

ral England, ‘Crimson Peak.’ We quickly learn that Sharpe and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) have ulterior motives in luring Edith to their home. Another problem with modern attempts at gothic is how few actors can appear convincingly Victorian, but in Wasikowska, Hiddleston and Chastain, del Toro has a assembled a trio of stars who look a lot more comfortable in Victorian garb than contemporary clobber. It’s these NewJerseyStage.com central performances, along with the magnificent costumes and production design, that keep Crimson Peak from collapsing. Wasikowska has a brittle Joan Fontaine quality, and Hiddleston was born to play this sort of old world cad, but it’s Chastain who steals the show with a performance that’s not so much scenery chewing as scenery absorbing. As gothic melodramas go, Crimson Peak is fine, but what 2015 - ISSUE 10 120