The Forsyte Saga

The Forsyte Saga is very much like the Eastenders of its day. Set in the late 19th and early 20th century, there may be no social media, mobile phones or 24 hour news, but the scandals that take place amongst the well-to-do Forsyte family could just as easily be played out in Albert Square.

I’d heard the title of this play before and no wonder, as reading the programme told me this trilogy of novels, originally written in the early 1900s by John Galsworthy, has been adapted into a film, several television series and more than one radio series. These span all the way back from 1949 (the film) to 2017 (BBC Radio 4). The most well-known adaptation of the Saga probably came in 1967-69, where 18 million people tuned in to the final episode on the BBC.

The story in the play starts in 1886 and brings us all the way through to 1920. It follows the ups and downs of various generations of the Forsyte family, including affairs, suicides and irreparable family feuds. Some of the things we see are quite jarring to a modern audience, as this was a time when women were supposed to be seen and not heard and a husband had a high level of control over his spouse. This made for some quite uncomfortable scenes that seem a world away from where we are today.

Theatre at Baddow perform at Great Baddow Parish Hall, which is small but has a raised stage. On walking in, I could see that the set was simple but effective and that some scenes would be played on the hall floor each side of the stage. The main set was painted very simply in black and white. Although this meant it didn’t stand out too much, I can see very sensibly why the group chose to do this. The backdrop had to represent several different places throughout the whole show, therefore had to be generic enough to fit with them all.

It was hard to keep up with all the characters in the play and the performances spanned quite a range. Claire Lloyd played our leading lady, Irene, and I thought she was superb. She completely embodied the part of a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage who often stepped outside of what was acceptable behaviour for the time. I also thought Roger Saddington as her husband Soames was good. When the part called for anger, he delivered, although I think he could have done even more to be nastier at other times during the show.

Donna Stevenson as June and Tonio Ellis as Philip Bosinney, a young couple who get engaged at the start of the show, did well and Donna portrayed a lovely innocence to the character. Their posh accents both dropped slightly on some words (perhaps dropping a ‘th’ for an ‘f’ on occasion, for example), but they were pleasant overall. The comic relief of the show came from the duo of old aunts, Juley and Hester, played by Jean Speller and Helen Bence respectively. The audience laughed in all the right places and Aunt Juley’s face especially was wonderful to watch. Add David Saddington to this mix, playing Soames’ father James, who was going deaf and constantly complained “No-one tells me anything!”, and you had a lovely comedy trio.

As we skip 19 years into the future for act 2, to 1920, we see the next generation of Forsytes emerge. I enjoyed the performance of Cat Taylor as Fleur, who is Soames’ daughter with his second wife. She was bright and bubbly and changed up the spirit of the show. Playing her love interest, Irene’s son Jon, was Elliot Speller-Mason. As a younger actor, he perhaps seemed the least experienced of the cast and this resulted in his dialogue being delivered very fast so that you could barely understand some lines. It’s easy to be nervous on stage, so hopefully with time, this will improve.

I did like the fact that some scenes, like one in a botanical garden, were set to the side of the stage as this meant the backdrop could be more appropriate. I think it probably meant some of the audience couldn’t see the action for a short while, but these are the trials of working in a village hall rather than at a theatre.

In terms of direction and staging, I did feel that the show was a little too static during some scenes and think the stage could have been used more. It was quite crowded with furniture which added to the aesthetics but perhaps got in the way at times and it wasn’t necessarily all needed. There were some scenes where I felt people, in a natural situation, would have, perhaps, paced around or moved from one area to another, whereas little movement happened at all in some cases.

The costumes, provided by Dress Circle, were beautiful. In a play where people are on and off so quickly, and with little space, it’s hard for people to change, so we saw some of the cast in the same outfit for multiple scenes, but I understand why. One other thing I would mention, which I understand might have been hard to portray, was the shift in time and the characters subsequently ageing. The first big time leap was 12 years, and nothing about any of the characters visually, or the way they acted, seemed to change. When we skipped another 19 years ahead, David did well as James, becoming more doddery with a walking stick and I would have liked to see other cast members follow suit. I know it’s all about using your imagination in theatre, so this is perhaps a minor point, but I feel it could have been thought about a little more.

Overall, a very pleasant show by Theatre at Baddow. Thank you for welcoming Tessa and me to watch.

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