REVIEW
DORCHESTER LITERARY FESTIVAL
A HARDY WELCOME
Max Gate, Dorchester
AN EXPLORATION of the domestic life of Thomas Hardy was the innovative idea for The New Hardy Players whose members put on a show with imagination and affection at the writer’s house.
The National Trust house played the leading role as the audience went from room to room to enjoy short scenes featuring not only Hardy and both his wives but his sister, the secretly loved Gertrude Bugler and even Dr Marie Stopes in an informal drama where the servants also spilled the beans about their boss.
The event, as part of the Dorchester Literary Festival, took the audience on a journey from kitchen to attic listening to the staff reminisce, tell jokes and discuss Hardy’s stories and his tight-isted nature.
Written and directed by Emma Hill and Tim Laycock, the work covered a wide spectrum of Hardy’s life from his fiddle-playing days as a young man to his interest in the folk traditions of the occult as he chats to the writer Hermann Lea.
Short excerpts from his novels such as The Woodlanders and Tess of the D’Urbervilles are played out by servants and friends which are both revealing and amusing in an informative and enjoyable production that hopefully could herald more Max Gate moments in the future.
MARION COX
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