Thomas Hardy: Three Tales

Blue Hills Theatre Company at the Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio, 7:30pm, Thursday 6th October

Directed by Alice Malin

[rating:3/5]

Alice Malin’s production of Thomas Hardy: Three Tales brought out mixed feelings in me. There were moments of sheer brilliance but there were also times when I just couldn’t stop glancing at my watch, yawning and wondering how many people would be in Cindies by that point in the evening.

The play did not have an elaborate set: it consisted of a painted screen and a couple of props. Thus, the onus was on the actors to give life to the show. While they didn’t do too badly overall, they did not live up to their considerable experience nor their reputation, some of which was gained through the Cambridge drama scene.

Victoria Rigby and William Towler both seemed intolerably artificial at moments, but for different reasons. Towler occasionally overacted his part and his extended facial expressions became annoying to watch. Rigby, on the other hand, lacked commitment to the portrayal of her characters and often used inappropriate facial expressions, which lent her performance a generally unconvincing air.

Darren Cockrill and Clare Harlow were different stories, however. Cockrill seemed authentic in all his roles and one readily accepted him as a greedy uncle, then as a civilised man having Christmas with his family and later as an indifferent husband. Harlow was by far the superior actor though. Her every expression seemed heartfelt and, consequently, moved the audience. She seemed to be the one holding the show together with her spontaneity and precision.

Photo by Josiah Norris

Despite imperfections in the performances, these flaws were outdone by the painful co-ordination between sounds, special effects and the visible actions. Quite often loud noises were played in the background after the actors had started speaking and a horse would be heard serenely galloping when the actor would be pulling his reins hard. This was incredibly irritating and seemed an unnecessarily amateur affectation. One would have expected better from a group that was already part way into a long national tour.

The show also seemed to lack depth in its interpretation of the various roles, and most of the characters were portrayed frivolously. This, again, was something that made the show more simplistic than it needed to be.

While there were moments of great amusement and the show was arguably ‘worth the money,’ I left uninspired, if not actively regretting an evening spent watching this performance.