A Tale of Two Cities

The Musical follows Charles Dickens's storyline very closely. The only difference being that Madame Defarge takes on the role of story teller as well as acting in it, and even quoting sections of the novel.

The set was excellent. Rosemary Bianchi is indeed a very talented designer and I am always delighted to see what she has come up with for each production. The stage was divided onto different levels and occasionally the additional extra piece of set was brought in when required, but these were always kept to the minimum. It was a good idea and worked well. The use of dates and places projected onto a sepia back panel worked really nicely. However, I would have like them to have lasted a little longer perhaps fading in and then out again as the action proceeded.

The costumes were generally good but could have looked a lot dirtier and hair and wigs needed some attention.

The lighting was imaginative with the different areas of the stage being lit to denote scene changes.

The quality of both acting and singing was good. The two male leads, Sydney Carlton and Charles Darnay, played respectively by Michael Niles and Kier Home were well cast. Both had clear and powerful voices and great stage presence.

Lucie Manette played by Nicola Niles made up the third part of this love triangle. Once again, musicality was good and diction was excellent.

Ernest Defarge {Brian Seal} and his wife Madame Defarge {Sera Lowe} both gave very noteworthy performances, linking the whole plot together.

 I found the plain and honest sincerity of Dr. Manette {Bob Sulzbach} very appealing and believable and one couldn’t help but warm to the characterization.

Miss Pross {Judith Coen} made the most of her cameo role, as did all the cast and chorus.

Marquis St. Evremonde (Mike Barker) confidently played the villain of the piece, once again showing his experience and confidence when taking command of the stage.

Young performer, Daniel Niles, demonstrated a quite confidence when on stage and I shall be keen to watch this young actor develop in the future. Well done.

This musical calls for a very large cast but Hitchin Thespians managed to perform it with a minimal cast by doubling up on some of the smaller roles and it worked.

The choreography, what little there was, could be better described as chorus movement, and this minimalistic approach worked well.

The Musical Direction (Ben Hodson) was solid and his band produced a very good sound. Not once did I feel that the band outshone the cast. They worked well with the principals allowing them to use the music to maximum dramatic effect and it was a good combination for the ensemble.

Putting aside a few small discrepancies such as no shackles for Darney in Act 1, wine bottles that were obviously empty, and the hem on Lucie’s red coat being very poorly altered, the company should be extremely proud of their creation. I commend you for taking on this challenge and look forward to my next visit to Woodside Hall.

Thank you for your hospitality

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