A Tale of Two Cities

This complicated story set in the French revolution full of intrigue, spying, love, hate, vengeance and sacrifice was extremely well enacted by twenty-three actors from this local society. From the lowest peasant to the aristocracy and monarchy, all had credibility in their parts and the clarity of the dialogue was perfect. Appropriate well-chosen music was being played before, in the interval and afterwards. The stage width and depth were used to their full size with the courtyard of an impressive large village public-house.

The two contrasting social classes of the aristocracy and the general population were abundantly clear with Ernest and Madame Defarge (Steve Emery and Kelly Verstappen) leading the down-trodden peasants in opposing the appalling behaviour of the aristocracy to themselves and their peers. The totally out-of-touch Marquis St Evremonde

(H. Reeve) was the hateful instigator of some of the atrocities that were to bring about the revolution.  The royalty of the time acted as narrators to the plot and was indeed very helpful in keeping us in a good understanding of the story.

The focus of the story was on the family of Dr. Manette (Frank Horsley), his daughter, Lucie (Zarrina Danaeva) and the man who falls in love with her - Charles Darney (Robbie Osbourne). He was a decent man who although born into the Evremonde family, hated the way that they treated anyone not of their standing.

Apart from the above six characters, there were another seventeen persons on stage during the evening, enacting supporters of either the rich or the poor.  Of the characters they played, some  were larger than others and several were cameo roles. The following notable parts gave us good interpretations of Mr Barsad (Jason Ferguson), Mr Stryver (Nicholas Bushara), Miss Pross (Amy Bowyer), Jarvis Lorry (Anthony Lee), Sidney Carton (Jonny de Mallet Morgan), and  Jerry Cruncher (Pete Plumb). The other actors had some important dialogue and it was important to the smooth running of the story and ably portrayed.

Congratulations to the directors, those on stage and backstage and the entire production team including the costume section who had a huge task to fulfil. A most enjoyable evening - thank you all.

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