THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. To 12 August.

Lancaster

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER
by Mark Twain adapted by Gareth Machin

Dukes Playhouse at Williamson Park To 12 August 2006
Mon-Sat 7.15pm
Runs 3hr One interval

TICKETS: 01524 598500
www.dukes-lancaster.org
Review: Timothy Ramsden 8 July

A well-acted voyage where the scenery is still the star.
It’s 20 years since Lancaster’s rep began braving the summer weather by mounting productions (initially 2, a Shakespeare and a family show; latterly just the latter) in the city’s Williamson Park. These stand out among the many open-air summer shows, because they are promenade performances. Inevitably, given the park’s layout.

Formed from quarries, it offers locations ranging from a lake (where Tom and Huck meet at this show’s start), an open grass area (home to Tom’s Aunt Polly who’s bringing the lad up with attempts at harshness around a loving centre). This area’s surrounded by tree-bearing hills, allowing for running entries.

Other areas are gloomily confined, narrow passages overhung by branches, or a dell with narrow ravine. These do fine for the story’s darker scenes, like a midnight grave-robbing, or an underground labyrinth where Tom and his friend Betty become lost, nearly meeting up with the murderous Injun Joe. And the mountainous park’s topped by the Ashton Memorial, its courtyard fitting for formal scenes; here it’s used for the trial of inarticulate Muff Potter.

But these locations are spread around, and what on a bright evening might be a series of pleasant strolls can become, in damp weather, an umbrella-dodging ordeal. Walking between scenes, a couple of regular Park-theatregoers lamented recent years’ reduction in the scale and spectacle of these shows. All due to funding, naturally.

But experience has smoothed the operation, with a converted milk-float carrying power from scene to scene and actors slipping away to do quick changes, presumably somewhere behind a discreetly-placed bush.

Stretched resources are only apparent in the sparse trial scene, with its unlikely pioneer female lawyer in the 19th-century Deep South. Gareth Machin’s adaptation works neatly till the interval, with the first act built around a long scene at Polly’s house, but afterwards several brief scenes exploiting suitable locales lead to almost more walking than watching.

Worse, storytelling gets clunky, with important points missing and ‘catch-up’ explanations papering over narrative cracks. Still, the cast play well and the Park exerts it annual atmospheric magic. Outside London, this remains a prime open-air theatre event.

Huckl;eberry Finn/Counsel for the Prosecution: John Catterall
Joe Harper/Dr Robinson/Judge/Stranger: Howard Chadwick
Aunt Polly: Janys Chambers
Tom Sawyer: Bruce Godfree
Becky/Counsel for the Defence: Claire Huckle
Sid/Muff Potter: John Lloyd Fillingham
Ben Rogers/Injun Joe: Carl McCrystal
Jim: Jade Willis

Director: Ian Hastings
Designer: Terry Brown
Lighting/sound: Brent Lees
Composer/Musical Director: Matt Baker
Voice coach: Lise Olson
Fight director: Kate Waters

2006-07-11 12:33:26