CIDER WITH ROSIE. To 6 October.
Newcastle-under-Lyme/Scarborough.
CIDER WITH ROSIE
by Laurie Lee, adapted by Nick Darke.
New Vic Theatre Newcastle Under Lyme To 22 September.
Tute-Sat 7.30pm Mat 22 Sept 2.30pm.
Audio-described 19 Sept.
Captioned 18 Sept.
Post-show discussion 18 Sept.
then Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough 25 September-6 October 2007.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm May Sat 2.30pm & 4 Oct 1.30pm
Runs 2hr 30min One interval.
TICKETS: 01782 717962.
www.newvictheatre.org.uk (Newcastle-under-Lyme - £1 per ticket charge for onlione bookings).
01723 370541.
www.sjt.uk.com (Scarborough).
Review: Ranjit Khutan: 31 August 2007.
A heart-warming start to the New Vic’s autumn season with this nostalgia inducing classic.
Hot on the heels of her brilliant sell-out production of Jamaica Inn - director Theresa Heskins gives us Cider with Rosie. Rosie invites the audience to take a peek into Laurie Lee’s fond memories of village life in the Costwolds town of Slad.
Set in the years after World War I, Cider with Rosie is a vivid recollection of a rural boyhood and a fond portrait of a now vanished village life. The play chronologically recounts events in Lee’s life – from the tearful age of three to the girl obsessed adolescent. We are presented with tales that include the hilarious Granny Trill, the milkman who saw two deaths in two days and was then avoided by villagers for fear he would see the devil after that.
There are the heart warming too; tales involving his mother, who he fondly recalls was an “extravagant romantic - she lived this world and saw it with fresh hopes". Other noteworthy memories include the school teacher who throws her slaps at schoolchildren from the other side of stage with amazing accuracy and the tender moment between Lee and Rosie where we are transfixed - for what seems like ages - on Lee’s subtle hand movements across her body.
Despite the many hard times retold in Lee’s stories, at the core of this beautiful and heart warming reminiscence play are hope and a positive outlook on life. Storytelling is as much about what you keep out as about what you keep in; Lee manages to frame this nostalgic story in a way that engages us fully in a trance of memory where storytelling is brought to life.
Marge: Kate Adams.
Loll: James Bolt.
Harold: Claude Close.
Tony: Morgan George.
Jack: Joseph MacNab.
Mother: Olwen May.
Phyll: Maggie O’Brien.
Laurie Lee: David Shelley.
Doth: Kirsty Wood.
Director: Theresa Heskins.
Designer: Michael Holt.
Lighting: Jo Dawson.
Sound: James Earls-Davis.
Musical Director: Mary Keith.
Voice/Dialect coach: Caroline Hetherington.
2007-09-07 08:47:16