A Tale of Two Cities

“It is a far, far better thing that I do...” such classic lines, unique and powerful, nothing else comes close. And awaiting his fate in the red lit glow of the guillotine, Sydney Carton stood against the night sky in the Sussex countryside. It’s an image that haunts: the impossibly brave sacrifice of this character for the love of a woman who could never be his; in the face of such brutality and cruelty of the time it’s set. And everything that has gone before in the story has led to this moment: all the nuances, all the winding roads of the tale.  

Setting this outside in such a sublime venue is a wonderful choice, and the stage being slightly raised helps the whole audience to see. This is a well managed outdoor production, well done to the Production Manager Jane Jones. The set is lovely, the idea of stage right being France resplendent with full size French flag and stage left being England with its own flag works really well, the there are lots of heights and steps and perspective painted scenery, including a mouse in ‘France’. The change just after the interval to all France, with French flag substituted, and the ribbon dividing the stage being curled up while narration continues works really well. Costumes, as always with Henfield, are super. Authentic and appropriate, as are wigs, bonnets and head coverings: the transformation to the red hats of the ‘mob’ in revolutionary France looked particularly good contrasting the poor and colourless clothing of the lowest classes. Lights were only needed after the interval and they illuminated the set really well. Some of the music choices in the classical pieces were really lovely: haunting and appropriate; but the opening music seemed really modern so felt a little odd in comparison to where it was being set.  

There were however significant gaps in action during what felt like long transitions of both furniture and actors, and it would have benefitted from more fluidity between scenes, especially as some of the scenes were very short. It would have helped the audience to maintain being immersed in the story if perhaps the actors had been encouraged to start the scenes while the furniture appeared around them. It’s also not clear why the people in ‘France’ only had ‘French accents’ some of the time, not all the time, and some actors who were in the French side of the cast didn’t have a French accent at all: the incongruity takes you away from the story. There were a few odd staging moments where the action happened right at the back of the stage with other actors in front blocking the action from the audience; but the space was used incredibly well otherwise.  

Dickens’ social reform ideas and ideals are as evident here as they are in his other stories, highlighting the injustice the poorer classes receive not only in England but elsewhere; it is also an obvious metaphor for both the time and the Country he was actually writing in. It is also a joy to hear his words spoken in the adaptation by Jane Haines who also directs, not only the dialogue but the narration by different characters: enormous congratulations for this wonderful and rich adaptation. This is a hugely ambitious production with a large mostly ensemble cast, although there are principal characters in play. There are some people that shone in their roles and have clearly done a lot of preparation work to portray their characters: particularly Rebel Atkinson as Sidney Carton whose radiating stage presence positively crackled with intensity. His broken and flawed portrayal of the man making the ultimate sacrifice was superb. Mandy Ainsworth showed lovely characterisation as Madame Defarge, right from the outset when she was radiating disgust and the promise of her future power in her first scene where she didn’t even have lines. Zoe Ainsworth had some lovely intense moments of feistiness, desperation and ultimately resignation, contrasting with the subtle angelic presence of Natasha Holmes as Lucie Manette with her innocence and demureness. Ian Henham was always fully in character as Mr Defarge and a complete joy to watch; leading the people, yet still in deference to his wife: a lovely portrayal of the complexities of power dynamics. Alice Malyon gave a really warm performance with quiet confidence; and was a joy to watch. The cast as a whole really pulled together as a team to be convincing in their roles, however, couple of the cast members seemed under-rehearsed, but that could be put down to opening night nerves.  

When the guillotine was erected on stage just before the end of the first act, it was a powerful breath holding moment for all the audience who gasped: whether they know the story or not, whether they anticipate what’s going to happen or not. And a beautifully realised and fully working guillotine it was, complete with blood spattered blade. With the slightly longer scene right at the end, there was time for the audience to really immerse themselves, listening to Sydney Carton’s powerful voiceover and seeing the sacrifice being made, it’s impossible not to be profoundly moved. There was many a sob in the audience, and it’s a moment that will haunt us for a good while.  

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