Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Yet again, the use of the beautiful Tithe Barn to stage this production gave it an almost ethereal quality, as the sun went down on a lovely summer’s evening.  The staging was very powerful, with large grey pillars of stone in a semi-circle which later served as Stonehenge and a good assortment of props.   The panels that swivelled to reveal paintings in the house were clever and effective, as was the use of tables and benches at different levels for the action.  The whole production was beautifully crafted and thought through by director, Phil Courage. He managed to create this stage adaptation without missing any of the main action or losing the feel of the book. It did mean that the play was fairly lengthy, but it was so absorbing the time went quickly.  There were a few aspects that didn’t quite work, such as the horse and cart, but other aspects such as the milking of the cows worked brilliantly.  There were also a few missed lighting cues and projection issues on the first night, but I’m sure these will have been ironed out during the run.

There was a very believable Tess Durbeyfield; full of angst and inner turmoil at the many challenges she faced.  I felt at first she was perhaps a little too intense, which meant she didn’t have much room to develop the character, but as the play progressed, excellent acting shone through and allowed the audience to have real empathy for the character.

Angel Clare was equally excellent showing the character’s sensitive and quiet nature, as well as his hypocrisy when he finally learns the truth about Tess’s past.

Alec d’Urberville was suitably sleazy with several members of the audience say that he made their skin crawl! 

The rest of the cast, both adults and children, contributed well to the play and kept the action going at a good pace.  Most had several roles to play and all handled them well.  I particularly enjoyed the scene where Angel carried the girls across the water one by one and also the dancing, which was charming.

The costumes and make up were excellent and in keeping and the huge amount of props for this production were all well-made or chosen to be appropriate for the time period. Original music and singing provided by the very talented Kate Courage provided an effective and atmospheric backing to proceedings.

The director and cast must be congratulated on this very ambitious production and for creating such a heartfelt and immersive piece of theatre.

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