HARVEST. To 1 October.
London
HARVEST
by Richard Bean
Royal Court (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs) To 1 October 2005
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 3.30pm
Audio-described 24 Sept 3.30pm
BSL Signed 15 Sept
Captioned 20 September
Post-show talk 21 Sept
Runs 3hr One interval
TICKETS: 020 7565 5000
www.royalcourttheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 8 September
Like pigs, this family farm drama flies along; a wonderfully individual portrait of life literally on earth.Seed-time and harvest' suggests the regular patterns of the turning world. But Richard Bean's play, covering a near-century in the life of East Yorkshire farming family the Harrisons, is filled with the uncertainties of farming life. The family's as parochial as can be, farming a small acreage won in a fantastic bet with the squire whose land lies all around. Driffield's the big town nearby, but a Driffield doctor can hardly find his way to the farm. Beverley's a fair way off, and Hull like another country.
Yet the big world won't leave the Harrisons alone. One war takes their horses and wounds a son. Another brings a foreigner, death and marriage, while changing regulations make William Harrison's one-time wonder pig project no-longer practical.
Bean's excellent epic, its 3 hours swift and gripping, holds reality tight within a fanciful framework. William is lynchpin for the altering times and a vividly drawn individual, Matthew Dunster perfect with his combination of earnest exterior, interior perceptiveness and refusal to show too much of what he's thinking to anyone. Spending much of the time in wheelchairs, he is both instigator of events and observer of other's lives and loves.
Lives come vividly and disappear suddenly, or without their absences being noted for some time, as the action jumps a decade or two forward between the 7 scenes. All the family members (made vivid in excellent, concentrated performances) in Wilson Milam's production share something of William's qualities; it takes a German interloper to appear excitable. By their side the brief representatives of the outside world, Paul Popplewell's officer, Claire Lams' antipodean medical officer and two intruders come over as less rounded figures. As do the Squires, and the one university educated Harrison, who'll be leaving the farm and its earth-bound reality.
Between, there's the ironically-named Titch, who starts out a simplistic character, gaining character substance as he attaches himself to the farm. And, in Dick Bird's austere set, with no crumb of rural cosiness as the farm expands around the stage, under Paul Keogan's comfortless lighting, it's the farm that has the last laugh.
Mam/WAC Officer: Sharon Bower
Laura: Sian Brooke
Warcliffe/Lewis: Mike Burnside
William: Matthew Dunster
Albert/Alan: Gareth Farr
Danny: Craig Gazey
Maudie: Jane Hazlegrove
Titch: Adrian Hood
Vet: Claire Lams
Parker/Blue: Paul Popplewell
Stefan: Jochum Ten Haaf
Lord Primrose Agar/Young Agar: Dickon Tyrell
Director: Wilson Milam
Designer: Dick Bird
Lighting: Paul Keogan
Sound: Gareth Fry
Company Voice Work: Patsy Rodenburg
Dialect Coach: Neil Swain
Fight director: Bret Yount
Assistant director: Elina Manni
2005-09-12 17:15:30