REBECCA VINES

Cold Comfort Farm

Directed Pat Davis

Adapted by Paul Doust

Roses Theatre Tewkesbuty 7-30pm until Saturday February 5th 2000-02-04

 TADS production of Cold Comfort Farm at the Roses is an enthusiastic romp through the rural 1930’s as "Robert Poste’s child" Flora (Jane Amherst) introduces herself and us to her eccentric country cousins with extraordinary results.

This is an ambitious text to bring to life. Half of any audience will be stalwart devotees Stella Gibbons novel, and almost certain to be reciting with the players the curious expressions that have passed into modern folklore_. There is also the spectre of the magnificent film adaptation of the novel in recent years, with a prim Kate Beckinsale in the lead role, aided by a faultless star-studded supporting cast of (among others) Sir Ian McKellen, Eileen Atkins, Joanna Lumley, Rufus Sewell and Stephen Fry.

But this is a confident, very independent production that oozes an infectious merriment to an appreciative audience. An audience who are personally drawn into the action as special confidants of Flora’s sophisticated, knowing, ironic asides_.

Richard Hughes & crew have created a truly stark farm interior (the clock really deserving it’s own credit) and the range of contrasting costumes from Janet Lines and her team invoked a very real pull back to the elegant be-Vogued days of Flora’s 1930’s London,

As attractive Clothes-horse Flora, Jane Amherst was reminiscent of the brisk Captain of the lacrosse team telling us Upper Fourth formers to "Play Up and Play the Game". Her sterling lead performance carried the whole show, ably assisted by the other cast members, all of whom inhabited their roles completely.

The production houses some absolute comic gems. The Starkadder’s incantation of Aunt Ada Doom’s mealtimes; William Tombs as Seth, loping hungrily around the set like an over-sexed Young Farmer at the annual barn dance; Richard Hughes’ (as both the creaking Adam and the Hollywood wide-guy Mr. Neck) brought a real sense of truthful physicality to his roles; and Amos Starkadder’s (James Caldwell) religious devotions at mealtime and in the pulpit had the audience crying with laughter_.

As Aunt Ada Doom, Judy Gibson alternated between sitting po-faced at the top of the stairs and leaping maniacally into action, When she did, the audience were overjoyed, redolent of a demented June Brown, her cross little face occasionally lit up with delight at just how naughty she could be. This of course, is the particularly peachy part, the "I saw something nasrrrrrrrrrrrrsty in the woodshed" character which requires adept comic timing. We were not disappointed by her performance — how ever often she insisted that she was mad, or that she had seen something "narrrrrrrrrrrrrsty" we believed her utterly.

This adaptation is an inherently, knowing, theatrical feast, and goes out of it’s way to be so. Th Greek style chorus adds to the pervading sense of "doom" and, true to Greek form, we never see the real nub of the action happen on the stage – what did Aunt Ada see in the woodshed? And what wrong did Judith’s man do to Robert Poste?

You won’t find out of course, but if you want a nostalgic, entertaining theatre trip this weekend go and see it.