Keira Knightley in THERESE RAQUIN with Judith Light

THERESE RAQUIN is a play by Emile Zola (b. France 1840.)  The plot is reminiscient of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary;" an adulterous woman from a loveless marriage and Dreiser's "An American Tragedy;" a murderous drowning roused out of lust.   Therese (Keira Knightley) is the poor relation relegated to subservience by her aunt and her insuffereable, coddled son Camille.  Camille & Therese are 1st cousins raised together by Camille's mother.  Knightley does an admirable job of evoking sympathy for her indentured life, trapped in a loveless marriage to Camille despite first seeming catatonic. Camille announces plans to move from their provincial town to Paris.  "Change must come sometimes."  The move leads to a sexual awakening in Therese.  She and Camille's artist friend, Laurent, carry on a torrid, insatiable affair which can only be satiated by murdering Camille.  Madame Raquin is played by Judith Light.  Light's acting is suffocating in Act I.  Although it serves her role well in Act II when rendered speechless & immobile from a stroke.   Act I floats along as Theres unleashes her feral character.  Act II permits the illicit lovers to live openly in society.  Except, murder is frowned upon in civilized society and the couple cannot escape justice or the piercing gaze of the ghostlike portrait hanging over them.  The play is dated, overrated and a lugubrious bore.