Tess of the d'Urbervilles

In this adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s book, the spoken elements of the script were delivered as narration by the chorus allowing Tess’s story of injustice and maltreatment to be told with the social commentary intertwined into the dialogue. Somewhat surprisingly, given the unrelenting misery of Hardy’s writing, this adaptation gave several lighter moments by adding physical theatre, songs, dancing and some comedic moments. The cast were very tight, supporting each other and worked together as a cohesive group to present a powerful and engaging production. The tragedy of Tess’s life in this adaptation was brilliantly played by the lead actress and was realised sensitively and with a refreshing originality by Jane and her team.

The inclusion of physical theatre elements, song and dance took what can be just a very dark, heavy and harrowing story and made it lighter whilst not trivialising the injustices of Tess’s life. I particularly enjoyed the physical theatre elements using wooden stools to simulate rugged terrain which Tess clambered over as she crossed the Wessex landscape and red material used creatively to simulate blood and death. It was very clear that the cast had paid a lot of attention to detail to understand their characters, their accents and where they fitted into the story. Each member of the cast had their individual roles to play and worked as one to create a cohesive and powerful piece of drama.

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