Lark Rise
About the Production
Welcome to the tiny hamlet of Lark Rise. It is the first day of the harvest, one summer early in the 1880’s…
Flora Thompson’s autobiographical trilogy ‘Lark Rise’, ‘Over To Candleford’ and ‘Candleford Green’, describing her childhood in a remote Oxfordshire farming community has been termed English Literature’s classic masterpiece of a lost way of village life – a vivid and moving account, rich in fascinating detail.
In 1978, Keith Dewhurst’s acclaimed adaptation for The National Theatre took characters and episodes, songs and scenes directly from the books, to create two composite plays – ‘Lark Rise’ and ‘Candleford’. Each of the plays also featured a wealth of traditional music contributed by the influential British folk-rock group, The Albion Band. (John Tams and Ashley Hutchings, both members of the band, acted as musical directors for the play.)
The result is an enchanting play which, while lacking a strong narrative, does offer an evocative and entertaining glimpse into how our ancestors lived and worked in the years before The Great War, and the machine age that finally succeeded in sweeping England’s rural innocence away forever. In place of The Albion Band we have The Royal Borough Band, led by Dave Hankey, with a few of our own members helping to provide vocals.
We hope you will accept our production of ‘Lark Rise’ as a pleasant diversion fit for a summer’s evening – especially in the garden of what is still, very much, a village pub.
The Cast
Behind the Scenes
Image Gallery
The Reviews
Last year Robin Hood, this year Lark Rise. Theatre Workshop’s open air productions at the Woodman, Woodmansterne, are already becoming assimilated into our local dramatic calendar. Long may it continue, for on both occasions I have enjoyed the winning combination of benign weather and agreeable entertainment in ideal surroundings.
Lark Rise is adapted by Keith Dewhurst from Flora Thompson’s Lark Rise and Candleford trilogy, and if your taste is for the loving re-creation of a village our modern world has banished to the mists of time, the Woodman is your destination. Here you will find the slow seasonal rhythms of life in an isolated Oxfordshire farming community in the 1880s. Men banter in the field, women gossip on the green. Village idiot, ancient sage and itinerant salesman are set in a way of life unchanged since the Middle Ages.
Richard Lloyd’s production brings the community vividly to life. I was completely won over by the entrancing dialect speaking, not only from the Timms family on whom the play is centred (Bruce Montgomery and Lisa Lloyd as the parents, Sinead Russell and John Bird as the children) but from the whole company.
The Royal Borough Band, under Dave Hankey, contributes enormously to the bucolic spirit of the occasion.
The male villagers act as a kind of chorus of the good earth, with Tim Young a rascally paterfamilias as sly Old David and John Haithwaite’s Boamer speaking for a younger generation.
Donald Madgwick for The Croydon Advertiser, Friday 5 August 1994
A five day offering by Theatre Workshop Coulsdon in the garden of The Woodman pub, and after the disappointment of the Barn Players at Oxted last week, a revelation! I haven’t witnessed TWC before but on the basis of this terrific production I can only put my hand on my heart and say I’ve been a fool not to have seen them before. Flora Thompson’s autobiographical trilogy, Lark Rise, Over To Candleford and Candleford Green, describing her childhood in a remote Oxfordshire farming community in the 1880s has been termed English literature’s classic masterpiece of a lost way of life. Keith Dewhurst’s acclaimed adaptation for the National Theatre in 1978 took characters and episodes, songs and scenes, directly from the books to create two complete plays, ‘Lark Rise’ and ‘Candleford’. Each play also featured traditional music contributed by the Albion Band.
With their inspired interpretation of Lark Rise, TWC totally surprised me with the depth and wealth of talent that lurks in the ranks of this very fine company. They sing well, dance well and act well. Lark Rise was full of local yokels, village idiots, Ooos and Aaars and straw hanging out of the mouth as the play attempted to convey the life and times of the village and the people and Theatre Workshop laid on masterly, emotive, sometimes funny performance demonstrating the flair and skill that lifts this company out of the realms of amateurism and into a professional outfit with a bright future.
Catching the eye with sparkling performances were Lisa Lloyd as Emma Timms, around whose life a lot of the action centred, and Sinead Russell and John Bird as her children, Laura and Edmund. But they were on the receiving end of a hardworking company prepared to dish out staunch and capable support. Also helping add to the enjoyment was the foot tapping Royal Borough Band, and the chance for the audience to join in at the end in the harvest dance around the garden. Theatre Workshop played this for keeps, never allowing the pace or the interest to flag and I’ll be the first in line next time to see if they can match this beautifully entertaining performance. judging by the surplus of natural talent director Richard lloyd had at his disposal, it’s a fair bet they will.
Reviewed by Kevin Black for 'Kevin Black's Stagestruck' in The County Border News, 18 August 1994
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