Lilies on the Land

Lilies on the Land

Broughton Astley Drama Society (BADS)

March 2024

Never having seen, or even heard of, the play Lilies on the Land before this, my wife and I arrived at the small studio venue within Hinckley’s Concordia Theatre with no expectations, other than that if its BADS, it’s probably going to be good. We certainly weren’t disappointed.

The show

Lilies on the Land, based on true reflections of individual former members of Britain’s World War Two Women’s Land Army, is a dramatised reflection, portrayed by four women, of the life of those who joined the WLA at the outbreak of WW2, to ‘do their bit’ to support the country during the conflict. Their reminiscences reflect the different backgrounds of these ‘city girls’, away from home, working hard on farms learning basic agricultural skills often under demanding and unsympathetic employers expecting unpaid hard work in return for the provision of bed & (often quite basic) boarding.

It's a serious story, with powerful messages interlaced with sensitive, occasionally gently ribald humour and several well-known and atmospheric 1940’s songs; in this production all unaccompanied and tunefully sung.

All four women are onstage throughout, and while as individuals never really holding conversations with each other, describe their respective experiences in a way that weaves their wartime lives and separate characters into one clearly understood and unified story.

The Production

The characters are Poppy, played by Claire Simpson, Peggy (Becky Orton), Vera (Jacky Bingley) and Margie (Julie Adshead). All four of them excelled, as individual characters and as a team, in portraying the stresses, strains and sheer hard work of their lives on the land, together with the laughs they enjoyed, the lessons they learned, and the rollercoaster of emotions that a disoriented life in a country at war presented for them, their friends and their families.

It's virtually impossible to single out any one of the four experienced and extremely talented actors. Each performed her role, and delivered the huge number of faultlessly-learned lines, with assurance, conviction and impeccable timing. They portrayed their individual characters while at times playing cameos of other women connected to their stories. Convincing regional and class-based accents helped to portray clearly the different individuals they were representing. Together, they gave the audience (in a suitably-intimate studio setting) an emotion-hitting, often amusing, entertaining and thought-provoking experience.

Excellent as all the cast were, the overall impact of ‘Lilies’ wouldn’t have been possible without extremely skilful direction. This was achieved, as BADS productions so often are, by experienced and inventive Director Jen Hawkins. The four individual performances were blended into a single narrative by clever stage movement, often one character’s travel and positioning setting up the scene for the next performer with her part of the story.

The performances and the overall experience were supported by a clever rural setting, achieved with various farmyard artefacts, and by wartime sound effects and atmospheric recordings, all well synchronised with the on-set drama. Congratulations to a small ‘backstage’ team of Tim Redhead (Music), Rowan Almey (Sound) and a Crew of Zoe Stokes, Kiri Hargreaves and Rich Tomlinson.

The venue

I’ve mentioned that this play was staged in a small studio theatre. Being performed in this way enabled the capacity audience of about 60 to feel engaged in its presentation and emotionally moved by the performance. It’s difficult to imagine it being as effective as this in a larger-scale theatre with a more distanced audience.

The play was presented in just three performances, meaning that it was seen by fewer than 200 people. They can all consider themselves fortunate to have been there.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.