The
Shared Experience theatre company have enjoyed no small measure of success
since their inaugural production in 1988, growing over the last decade
to secure a West End residence and a dedicated band of followers. Having
performed three adaptations written specifically for the company by Helen
Edmundson, it was only a matter of time before they turned their attentions
to her award-winning 1993 play The Clearing.
The Clearing is set in seventeenth century Ireland, as Cromwells
men are systematically transporting women and children, and forcing royalists
off their lands. Robert Preston, a Cromwellian sympathiser disinherited
in England but possessed of lands in Ireland, is married to Madeleine,
an Irish woman. When Madeleines childhood friend, Killaine, is taken
by English soldiers she pleads to the English governer, Sir Charles Sturman,
for her release. Sturmans response is to order Madeleine and Robert
to be transplanted to barren Connaught, in the west of Ireland.
The play opens to reveal a wall, weathered and crumbling, with a large
wooden door at its centre. A tree growing behind the wall has lifted the
paving slabs below and forced its way through the brickwork. Shared Experience
often create dynamic sets, capable of taking on many physical forms. In
The Clearing they have produced a much simpler space - still magical,
and capable of being many places under a shifting canvas of light. Spots
and highlights pick out individual characters as other areas of the stage
are transformed, helping maintain flow and continuity. Bold side-lighting
effects bring the textures of the set into stark relief and greys, browns,
and earth tones highlight the bond between the characters and their land.
Within this setting, Edmundson explores themes of alienation and a conflict
of culture that have a huge contemporary relevance, as the prosperous
landowners of the play quickly become refugees, their lives at risk. It
is the inherent differences in the culture and upbringing of Robert and
Madeleine that strain their relationship.
The Irish characters are easily distinguishable within the play - feral,
willful and impetuous. By contrast, the English are a very proper race.
Edmundsons characters are drawn with a broad brush. When Madeleine
goes to Sturman he says I understand love, and I understand its
limitations. It has no limitations, replies Madeleine.
Little is left to the imagination about which side of the Irish sea emotion,
love and affection lie, and which side cold-hearted duty and the dereliction
of spirit. More politics and less partisanship could have rendered this
relationship richer and more engaging.
Yet this telling of The Clearing is at once moving, entertaining and relevant.
The story is convincingly and sympathetically realised, and the playing
is universally accomplished. A worthy addition to the Shared Experience
canon.
Harry
Smith 28.05.02
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