Cider With Rosie

Laurie Lee’s 1958 autobiography Cider with Rosie, is a poetic evocation of his childhood, and in 1970 was adapted for the stage by James Roose-Evans.  Cider with Rosie recounts memories of the first seventeen years of Lee's life in the village of Slad, Gloucestershire, in the period soon after the First World War. 

For some reason, known only unto myself, Cider With Rosie  has passed me by as a book, a film, a tv adaptation and a stage play.  Therefore, I came to this production with a mind, as they say, like a blank page.  Following the success of The Railway Children in 2017 St John’s Players once again chose to play this production “in the round” which is unusual for an amateur company.  It throws up different challenges for the directors, the cast and, to some extent, the audience.  This time the play was not exactly in the round as entrances were used either end of the hall as well as the “minstrel gallery”  above.  This is where the audience was challenged.  Sometimes the choice was whether to watch the action in front of them or the performer on the gallery.   The stage became a substantial looking Woolpack Inn which housed all things technical. 

There were some clever and imaginative pieces of direction in this production, although initially I became rather dizzy with the myriad of chairs flying around.  However, I forgave that when faced with clever use of said chairs together with planks of wood which became tables, charabancs for village outings and a roundabout - the lighting for which was super.  A pretty substantial rustic cart carried various coffins to the graveyard.  Costumes were fine in the main although I felt some of the men’s trousers looked a bit modern, the belt loops are always a give-away. Braces would have deflected the eye from them a bit. There was little time for the principal characters to change but it would have been better if the seasons could have been more defined by maybe adding a coat or shawl. I say this because the reminiscences swing through the seasons very quickly.  Lighting is obviously an extra challenge when working in the round but the challenge was well-met by lighting maestro Graham Royston.

In this version, much of the story, is entrusted to the narrator, an older Laurie looking back some forty years. Martin Hunt was a compelling presence, bringing the words to life with passion. 

His younger self, the boy Loll who starts school, discovers the seaside, sings carols and tastes paradise under the hay wagon, was well done by Luke Rhodes, equally convincing as the reluctant schoolboy and the innocent who succumbs to the charms of first Jo and then Rosie. 

As his mother, recalling her days downstairs in the big house, almost missing the bus, collecting china, Lucy Woodcock, nicely portrayed the stress of the single parent and her unconditional love for her family.

There was strong support from a huge cast particularly: Grace Harper (Doth) and Connie Dent (Phyll) as the girls, David Battom (Tony), Ian Toombs (Jack), Rosemary Eason as Granny Trill, combing her bits and consulting Old Moore, a nice cameo from Neil Cole (Vincent), and many more. 

An important part of the rural life was music and the use of live music along with unaccompanied singing by the whole cast at funerals, in the charabanc and carol singing added much to the atmosphere. 

Cider With Rosie is rarely performed by amateur companies and I can see that the challenge of a huge cast requirement and bringing the changing seasons and locations to the stage maybe puts them off.  I think, therefore, Directors Andi Dodd and Kieron Toner made the right decision to play it in the round.  I am not sure this adaptation has made me desperate to read Laurie Lee’s book for myself but it was an interesting “taster”.  I applaud St John’s Players for taking up the challenge, and congratulate the cast of 22 who all played their part to the full in what was a splendid ensemble piece.

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