Review

By fcharles

Under the Greenwood Tree, Dorset Corset Theatre Company, South Petherton and touring

THOMAS Hardy loved the West Gallery quire music of his youth - the little mixed band of fiddle, serpent and clarinet, often cider-fuelled, sometimes not quite in tune, but always sincere and adding a special local feel to the services in the country churches of Dorset, Somerset and Devon.

Hardy told their story - and how they were replaced by the organ and the harmonium - in one of his gentlest and most endearing novels, Under The Greenwood Tree.

Dorset Corset Theatre Company has chosen the first of the great writer's Wessex novels for its 2009 autumn tour - and director Helen Watts has devised a delightful adaptation that preserves the language and spirit of the book, while turning the action into a successful play.

The opening night, at South Petherton's newly refurbished David Hall, was a sell-out, a well-deserved tribute to the reputation that Helen and her company have earned in the years since their first production of Jane Austen's Persuasion in 2006.

Under The Greenwood Tree tells two interwoven stories - the struggle of the Mellstock Band against the new-fangled harmonium that the vicar wants to introduce into the church, and the romance of young Dick Dewy (Ryan Saunders) with pretty, flirtatious Fancy Day (Isabelle King), educated out of her working class background by her proud father. She has come back to Dorset as a teacher and soon catches the eye of the vicar, the squire and handsome Dick.

This is the play to convert Hardy-doubters - if you think the novelist was all about gloom, doom and death, here you see Hardy the humorist, the Dorset native with an ear for the local dialect, the lover of traditional music who could poke gentle fun at the musicians and the self-important pillars of the church, and the observer of rural life on the cusp of change.

This is Isabelle King's debut and it's a delight - she captures the vivacity, intelligence and wilful charm of the character perfectly, while Ryan Saunders is a good match for her. He's headstrong and emotional and you just know this marriage will be no bed of roses!

The multi-talented actors-singers-musicians Ed Burnside, Christopher Talman and Laura Giddings play all the other parts with skill, energy and panache. I particularly enjoyed Ed Burnside's Reuben Dewy, while Christopher Talman, a familiar face from many Forest Forge shows, does a great double act as Fancy's stubborn but warm-hearted father and the foolish vicar.

This is a treat from Dorset Corset and you have several chances to catch it on its West Country tour, including tonight, Friday 16th October, Bridgwater Arts Centre, tomorrow 17th, Bridport Arts Centre, Tuesday 20th, Mere Lecture Hall, Wednesday 21st Digby Hall, Sherborne, Thursday 22nd Strode Theatre, Street, Friday 23rd and saturday 24th, Royal Manor Theatre, Portland Tel: 01305 860792, Saturday 14th November, Shaftesbury Arts Centre , and Sunday 15th, Dorchester Corn Exchange (this one is at 6pm). FC