Hindle Wakes

Hindle Wakes a play performed by St Michael’s Amateur Dramatic Society, on Friday, 19th May 2023 at St Michaels Parish Hall, Shaw Street, Wigan

‘Hindle Wakes’ was a hugely controversial play at the time of writing and one of the first plays to have a working-class female protagonist.  Written by Stanley Houghton in 1910 and first performed in 1912,the play is set in the fictional mill town of Hindle in Lancashire and tells the tale of two young people, Fanny Hawthorn and Alan Jeffcote, who, whilst both on separate holidays in Blackpool, meet up and decide to skip town for what can only be described as a ‘dirty weekend’ in Llandudno!  ‘Class’, ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ are major ‘plot points’ in this play… ‘Fanny’ being the daughter of a mill-hand whilst Alan is the mill owner’s son!  Before Alan’s father became owner of the mill, he and Fanny’s father worked together in the mill and were best friends. Mr Hawthorn continues to work as a mill worker at Mr Jeffcote’s mill!

The Production Team…  June Dowd (Director) was the one tasked with brining this play to stage…as well as taking on the principal role of Mrs Jeffcote. June did a great job bringing the themes contained within the play to the fore… female rights, gender equality, stigmas and divides, some of which are still prevalent today!  In her programme notes June tells us that when you commit to ‘do’ a play… you then spend half your life with like-minded folk attempting to produce what you hope will be a ‘flawless production!  Sometimes it’s a pleasure – sometimes not so much!  June talks about, family, camaraderie, support and special times and whenever I get the chance to come and see St Michael’s perform, this is something that is so prevalent and obvious as soon as you walk through that door!  Thank you, St Michael’s, … it’s always a pleasure!

The Cast… there were some great characters brought to life by the four males and five females making up this cast … two of whom were making their stage debut with St Michaels, two young ladies, students studying at LIPA’s Sixth Form College in Liverpool and what an impact they made!  As most will know, this is where I start identifying MY favourite characters/performances and I’m looking no further than one of those two newcomers for MY ‘show stealer’…  Isabel Kenny gave us an impressive performance as the free spirited, determined mill girl ‘Fanny Hawthorn’. Confident, self-assured, great stage presence, wonderful characterisation, Isabel looked totally comfortable in this role which she made her own!  Loved the scene in Act two when she was left alone with Alan to figure out what was to happen next… if they were to ‘wed’… totally believable… be proud Isabel, wonderful job!  Our second newcomer Grace Woods… also created another believable character in the form of ‘Beatrice Farrar’, daughter of Sir Timothy Farrer played ever so well by the experienced Ian Field (loved the ‘mutton chops’ if that’s the right term Ian).  Grace probably wasn’t as assured as Isabel, but her characterisation was still notable, her stage presence good and her working relationship with the cast was great… be proud young lady, good job.  Patrick McNulty and Michelle Kenny took on the roles Mr Christopher Hawthorn and Mrs Hawthorn respectively… Fanny’s dad and mum!  Two good characters created both of whom had good stage presence. I particularly enjoyed Michelle’s no-nonsense approach to her daughter’s attitude and decisions. The ethical, morality battle was real with some totally believable discussions and reactions… be proud you two… you worked really well together and with all the cast!  The ‘Jeffcote Family’ … Nathaniel Jeffcote (Father), Alan Jeffcote (Son) and Mrs Jeffcote (Mum) were played by Alan Thompson, David Palin and June Dowd respectively. Again, three good characters created.  As with the ‘Hawthorn Family’… it was essential that the individual characterisations and the family dynamics were to the fore which they were!  What was noticeable and pleasing was how Alan physically and verbally changed his character/authority depending on who he was speaking to, giving additional insight into the ‘class/hierarchical themes’ running through the show.  The family involvement, the family interactions were believable…be proud folk… good job!  Last, but certainly not least, we had Julie Bradshaw who took on the role of ‘Ada’ the House Maid in the Jeffcote household, well done Julie, good job!   As you know, I’m never one to be negative, but in an effort to be honest and constructive, we did have a lot of occasions where some of the cast stumbled over their lines, plus we had a large number of prompts which resulted in a lot of pauses that not only affected the flow of the production but which slowed the action down.   If I may be so bold, and I know space is at a premium at St Michael’s, but I did think the location of the prompt didn’t help with these matters… I personally think she was a little too far away from the action, resulting in the audience being able to hear every word that she had to reiterate!  Sorry, hope I haven’t offended or overstepped!

Set / Staging and Tech… I loved the set/staging… basically two locations, the Hawthorn’s humble kitchen (Set Off Stage) and then the Jeffcote’s generous and lavish family room (On Stage). The design element was great… again showing the ‘class divide’.  Both these locations afforded the cast the space and the opportunity to do their thing with ease.  Well done to Julie Clarke (Stage Manager), June Dowd (Set Design) and to the cast for the construction!

Lighting + Sound… as always was in the capable hands of NODA AWARD WINNING ‘techy’… Caitriona Muir. No one is ever in the dark when Catriona is up in her ‘nest’… sound was good…be proud young lady!

Costumes…  supplied by Charades Costume Hire, St Helens and by the cast… were fabulous and in keeping with the era and enhanced the play ever so much.  Props… again, appropriate and used really well… supplied by the cast!

Thank you so much for again inviting my wife and I to your production which we really did enjoy, hope to see you all again soon!

Stay safe and keep well…
‘STRONGER TOGETHER’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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