As per usual I'm never quite sure what to make of plays that friends tell me will be about a fairly depressing subject - divorce and constraint in Victorian Britain in this case. Nonetheless I'm a supporter of friends' work and even managed to drag along someone I'd met in Keble Quad on the way (I did know her, don't worry!).
What can I say? We both really really enjoyed it! A small, and appreciative, audience got a viewing of a work, which no doubt will pick up as the week goes on. A slow start picked up pace as we got to know the characters and into the main themes. A woman (Edna Pontellier - Sophie Kershaw who does a good job of looking soulful and longing) on holiday is 'awakened' to love and the fact that her marriage is basically a sham by meeting the dashing Robert Brown (Tom Clark nicely cast). She falls for him, he leaves for Mexico, she pines and is annoyed by her husband (an excellent Jack Chedburn). Her lover comes back from Mexico, they declare their love, he leaves again, she kills herself. I make it sound simple but it's more than that, it's about convention, about doing something you feel is right even though society says it is wrong, about suddenly realising you've been trapped all your life.
The director and production team all deserve credit for making me enjoy something I was initially determined not to! Yes there were the odd niggles - long scene changes and a piano which I felt pain for as it was hauled in and out - but if you want to see something other than Shakespeare or the usual fare, try this for size.
What can I say? We both really really enjoyed it! A small, and appreciative, audience got a viewing of a work, which no doubt will pick up as the week goes on. A slow start picked up pace as we got to know the characters and into the main themes. A woman (Edna Pontellier - Sophie Kershaw who does a good job of looking soulful and longing) on holiday is 'awakened' to love and the fact that her marriage is basically a sham by meeting the dashing Robert Brown (Tom Clark nicely cast). She falls for him, he leaves for Mexico, she pines and is annoyed by her husband (an excellent Jack Chedburn). Her lover comes back from Mexico, they declare their love, he leaves again, she kills herself. I make it sound simple but it's more than that, it's about convention, about doing something you feel is right even though society says it is wrong, about suddenly realising you've been trapped all your life.
The director and production team all deserve credit for making me enjoy something I was initially determined not to! Yes there were the odd niggles - long scene changes and a piano which I felt pain for as it was hauled in and out - but if you want to see something other than Shakespeare or the usual fare, try this for size.