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Hard Times.
- Tour & World Premiere.
Playwright –Richard Hurst, adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens.
Director – Catriona Craig.
Artistic Director/ Producer - Neil Sheppeck.
Designers – Nick Hardwick and Clare Bousfield.
Lighting Designer – Andres Atkinson.
Sound Design - Alisdair McGregor for Pie Productions.
Video Design - Ben Walker.
Cast - Here
Company – Love&Madness
Venue Seen – Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh nr Edinburgh.
Dates & Time – 28 & 29 Oct at 7:30 pm.
Tour Details - Here
Run Time – 2 hours 30 mins including 15 min interval.
Reviewer – Emma Slawinski.
Loses too much Dickens in making modern fable.
The setting for Dickens’ novel Hard Times is the imaginary
Coketown, a grim northern industrial centre modelled on Preston, Lancashire,
which boomed in the early 19th Century. Dickens’ characters are largely
emblematic, playing out a moral fable for the industrial age. Thomas Gradgrind
is the stern and unaffectionate schoolteacher who tries to instil in his
pupils, and particularly his children Tom and Louisa , the pre-eminence
of "fact, and nothing but fact" above all else. Sissy Jupe is his adoptive
daughter, brought up in a circus family. Bounderby is a local magnate,
all self-important bluster and materialistic greed.
This adaptation, scripted by Richard Hurst, is to be applauded
for its audacious feat of cramming a fairly complex plot into a two-hour
play. It’s largely successful, though some elements might remain a little
confusing to those not familiar with the novel. The setting’s been transposed
to 1979, the year that saw Margaret Thatcher come to power, and beyond.
This strategy shows potential for making the tale relevant to contemporary
audiences, but it’s not put to best use. Projections of political campaign
adverts and speeches by Thatcher and Tony Blair are poignant, but the
production confuses the period we’re supposed to be observing, by having
some of the cast in what looks like Victorian dress, and others in modern
clothing. When the time comes to rescue Stephen Blackpool from the mine-shaft,
the references to the M6 and Mountain rescue just seemed a bit overdone
rather than topical.
The performances also vary wildly in their success. Alan Charlesworth’s
Gradgrind is not steely and sharp as I had first imagined
reading Dickens’ novel, but gruff and obstinate, but this actually provides
a perfect foil to booming, dominating Bounderby. Jade Magri’s Louisa
is a little unconvincing - her subdued presence and lack of emotion are
not explained enough by the script, and consequently fall a bit flat,
rather than giving a sense of how her father’s education has stunted her.
Jonny McPherson, however, shines as he flits effortlessly between
parts, equally convincing as inconstant James Harthouse and kind circus
man Sleary, and Pip Ripley gives an animated and confident performance
as Sissy Jupe. I also enjoyed her occasional narration, which offered
some interesting commentary – If anything, this device was under-exploited.
There is plenty that Love&Madness get right – the design and staging
are eye-catching and clever, and the play is fast-paced and always engaging.
But I couldn’t help feeling that whilst they may have succeeded in making
Hard Times a fable for a modern political age, they lost a lot of the
Dickens in it.
©Emma Slawinski 30 October 2004 Published on Edinburghguide.com.
Cast
Thomas Gradgrind - Alan Charlesworth. Josiah Bounderby - Rob Dugay. Louisa
Gradgrind - Jade Magri. James Harthouse - Jonny McPherson. Sissy Jupe
– Pip Ripley. Stephen Blackpool – Neil Sheppeck. Rachael – Jane Stanton.
Tom Gradgrind – Ian Van Der Heyden. All other roles played by members
of the company.
Full Tour Dates of Love&Madness’s production
of Hard Times.
All performances are evening except *evening and matinée and +matinée
only.
Tour starts
23/24/25* Sept at Chesterfield Pomegranate Theatre, 01246 345222.
27/28 Sept at Swindon Wyvern Theatre, 01793 524481.
29 Sept at Tewkesbury Roses Theatre, 01684 295074.
30 Sept at Hexham Queen's Hall, 01434 652477/6.
1 Oct at Derby Guildhall Theatre, 01332 255800.
2 Oct at Warwick Bridge House Theatre, 01926 776438.
6/7 Oct at Norwich Playhouse01603 598598.
8 Oct at High Wycombe Town Hall 01494 512000.
11/13+/14*/15* Oct at London UCL Bloomsbury, 0207 388 8822.
16 Oct at Gosport Explosion! 02392 505600
19 Oct at Maidenhead Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, 01628 788997
20/21 Oct at Bowness, Cumbria Old Laundry Theatre, 015394 88444 opt 5
22 Oct at Boston, Lincs Blackfriars Arts Centre, 01205 363108
23 Oct at Powys, WalesTheatr Hafren, Newtown, 01686 625007
28/29 Oct at Musselburgh, Scotland Brunton Theatre, 0131 665 2240
1/2* Nov at Lerwick, Scotland Garrison Theatre, 01595 692114
5* Nov at Dunfermline, Scotland Carnegie Hall, 01383 314000
7 Nov at Stirling, Scotland MacRobert Arts Centre, 01786 461081
9 Nov at Middlesbrough Hexagon Theatre, 01642 815181
10 Nov at Halifax Square Chapel Arts Centre, 01422 349422
11* Nov at Wimborne, Dorset Tivoli Theatre, 01202 885566
15 Nov at Colwyn Bay, Wales Theatr Colwyn, 01492 532668/872000
16 Nov at Harlech, Wales Theatr Ardudwy, 01766 780667
17 Nov at Wales Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 01970 623232
18/19* Nov at Nov at Swansea, Wales Taliesin Arts Centre, 01792 60 20
60
Tour Ends.
Theatre Editor, Thelma
Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com
Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted
for any errors or omissions.
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