Hindle Wakes

Many thanks to Poulton Drama for inviting me along to see Hindle Wakes by Stanley Houghton at Thornton Little Theatre on Saturday 26th November 2022. This is a period drama, set at the time of writing, the 1910’s. The play tells the story of Fanny Hawthorn who returns to her parent’s home after a weekend away in Blackpool with her friend. They are suspicious she is lying about her whereabouts for the weekend and before long, the manage to discover that she was not with her friend for the whole weekend and had in fact been courting with a gentleman, Alan Jeffcote, who is already engaged to be wed to Beatrice! Shocked with this scandal, and with the possibility of financial and social benefits, Fanny’s mother, Mrs. Hawthorne, decides that the pair must now be wedded. Mr. Hawthorne approaches Alan’s dad who is an old schoolmate and now the owner of the town’s mill. We also meet Alan’s mother, Alan’s fiancé, Beautice and her father, Sir Timothy Farrar. Each unveil their differing opinions on the matter at hand. In the end, Fanny refuses to marry Alan as she saw the fling as a bit of fun and she is hoping to marry for love, not because of circumstance. Doing so, she is thrown out of her parent’s home, but she is not disheartened by this, as she is certain she will be able to support herself financially with the work she is doing at the Jeffcote’s mill.

I believe director, Renee Ames, did an excellent job at not only telling this narrative, but at also bringing out the themes contained which are statements on female rights, gender inequalities, reflections on past socio-economic stigmas and divides. This was brought together in such a way that although some serious undertones were delivered within the content, elements of humour were injected throughout, which lighten the mood and the entire audience could be heard laughing along with the cast. The pace was good throughout, with some nice long pauses to allow for the narrative to digest. There were some great characters brought about to the stage which aligned to the themes and the cast were well connected with great rapport. A note of suggestion on the direction, to me the last scene felt a little disjointed from the rest of the production. I am not sure if this was intentional, and if so, am not sure that it was effective in intent. Throughout the entire play until this last scene, the fourth wall was fully segmented across the entire stage, characters interacting amongst themselves with the audience being voyeurs to the actions happening on stage. There were also interesting uses of levels and spacing, utilising the space of the stage dynamically and creatively throughout. The humour was brought about by great text work and detailed characterisations, reactions and timing. The last scene though felt quite flat across the front of the stage and the acting turned to be that of a playing to the audience for a gag type feel and breaking the fourth wall. The last scene is where Fanny rejects the socio-political conformities she is placed within and states her case for wanting not to be bound by expectation and that she will be okay more than ok making her own way in life. This is an extremely  powerful message in the context of the play and era and can see how a Brechtian style may have been brought in to alienate this messaging. Personally, I would have preferred consistency of style throughout the production through using this break of the wall more often, maybe by just one of the characters, or have kept the piece to the naturalistic style throughout.

The set and costumes were detailed throughout, the play being set in 2 locations, the Hawthorn’s humble. kitchen for the first scene and then the Jeffcote’s generous and lavish family room. All the design elements contextualised the piece well and clearly set out the socio-economic divides between the Hawthorns and the Jeffcotes and even further into this concept with the Farrers. I adored how the piece was brought to be a statement about the generation change which happened within that era and since, through having the younger characters with less differentiation in their characters, this was a very detailed nice touch.

Mr and Mrs Hawthorn were played by Stuart Holden and Joanna Crook. This pair delivered exceptional characters for these roles, bring with them an air of the salt of the earth, perfectly positioning the socio-economic themes through detailed vocal work, facial grimaces, expressions and physicality. I made note for the comedic element that Joanna Crook brought to the role through use of subtext added to the written script to coincide with the expressiveness.

Mr Nat and Mrs Jeffcote were played by Anthony Henry and Sue Haydock. Both delivered their roles with great gravitas. I made note of the relationship that the pair had onstage. Anthony physically amended his character’s authority depending to whom he was speaking, giving additional insight into the hierarchical themes of the show. Sue delivered the role with great urgency and intensity with very detailed thought processes being projected throughout, especially with regards to the thought of her son wedding beneath her class.

Fanny and Alan were played by Claire Hull-Naylor and Mason Forrest. They both delivered a strong performance, I loved the airy free spirit feel that Claire brought to the role, which was a great refreshing contrast to the rest of the characters. Alan did well at portraying the ambiguity of the character.

Sir Timothy Farrer and his daughter, Beatrice were played by Phil Gorner and Beccy Hands (who additionally played Ada, the Jeffcote’s maid). Phil delivered a strong character and delivered with great comic timing, especially when portraying the notion that the same ethical standards do not apply further up the hierarchy. Beccy delivered two contrasting characters very well through physicality, with Ada moving much faster with a forward lean posture than the more upright and controlled stance for Beatrice. I loved the energy and focus the Clare held for Beatrice’s entrance, holding the stage with her intensity and then switching this to a more vulnerable nature to provide great light and shade to the scene.

Thank you once again to Poulton Drama for inviting me to see this show and for a great evening of entertainment.

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