Writer and director Rupert Creed has penned a community play that is as stunning a piece of thought provoking entertainment that you could hope to see anywhere or at any time.

This is a production that faces uncomfortable truths about society past and present, blended into a lively potted history of Victorian Dorchester as the men get ready to go to war and the women prepare for a battle of the sexes.

With a short Thomas Hardy poem as the basis for the plot and the famous writer himself acting as observer to the events taking place around him, the musical play begins in joyous style with the locals enjoying a traditional country fair complete with a beautiful baby competition.

A cast of around 100 actors and musicians bring authenticity and passion to this promenade performance that focuses on the Hodge family as young Will goes to fight the Boers and his parents have a fight of their own over his future. Meanwhile the men of the powerful Pope family also have a battle to win as their womenfolk join the Suffragette crusade for equal rights.

As jingoistic self-confidence and patriotic fervour gives way to the reality of conflict. The townspeople gradually accept the truths of the new age dawning, not to mention getting used to seeing women on bicycles and even driving cars.

In the title role as Will Hodge, Joe Parsons sets the tone for a convincing performance by the whole cast, few of whom can be named but all of them deserving of praise.

Alistair Chisholm is a fine Thomas Hardy while John Duff and Sue Wylie are absolutely right as the Hodge parents, with Jean Lang and Emma Hill raising the flag for women’s rights as the Pope women.

Specially written music by Tim Laycock is performed by a sizeable orchestra of professional expertise in an evening that never flags for an instant, carried out by a cast that has taken on a considerable challenge and delivered a show that is as powerful as it is enjoyable.

The production continues until April 12. To buy tickets, go to dorchestercommunityplay.org.uk or call 01305 228269.