THE convoluted personal life of Thomas Hardy and the female characters it might have inspired are brought dramatically to life in a new play from one of Dorset’s brightest theatre companies.

She Opened The Door – The Wife, The Mother, The Other Woman And The Ruined Maid is based on fact and interweaves the real and fictional women from Hardy’s life and work with his first wife Emma at its heart.

It takes place in the garden of the couple’s home, Max Gate in Dorchester. Hardy’s possessive mother, Jemima comes to visit for the first and only time just as Florence Henniker arrives on the new fangled ladies safety bicycle.

Add to the mix a feisty housemaid – who could be the basis for Tess – some skeletons and a ghost or two to Emma’s already tangled nerves, and you have a powder keg ready to blow.

The play was written by acclaimed Swanage playwright Peter Cooper with an original musical score by Roderick Skeaping. The cast are Jane McKell, Trisha Davis, Dani Bright and Mary Lou Delplanque.

Jane McKell, AsOne’s artistic director, said: “For two years I wanted to do something unique about Dorset and Hardy and I also wanted to do something new about women.

“The play is a fresh look at the Hardy story and Peter researched and wrote this wonderful piece that looks at Hardy’s women and condenses it all in to one day.”

She added: “I actually like his work and I think he was a modernist who wrote about women very well. I don’t see the misogyny in his work – I think that is an urban myth that has grown up.

“He wrote about women really well as he did about all his characters and the countryside and man against nature.

“That is a very modern thing and I can relate to that now.”

Jane describes the play as ‘really funny with huge humour’, enhanced by a fabulous original score by award-winning composer Roderick Skeaping who joined the project through Peter Cooper, who he has worked with on several occasions.

The music is made up of songs and instrumentals ranging from ‘classical drawing room piano music’ to a more racy piece annotating Bournemouth’s reputation as a ‘city of sin’.

However, Roderick made a concerted effort to steer clear of more pastoral tunes, where possible.

He said: “Hardy was an urban character and mixed with the intelligent people and I didn’t think it was appropriate to completely douse him with rural music. There is a slight country dance feel to some of it, but not much.”

She Opened The Door – The Wife, The Mother, The Other Woman And The Ruined Maid is at The Royal Bath Hotel, Bath Road, Bournemouth, BH1 2EW, at 2.30pm on Sunday, October 24. Tickets are £12 plus concessions and £1 of every ticket goes to the Variety Club. Call 01305 835541 for full details and bookings.

You can also see the show at the Mowlem Theatre, Swanage, on Saturday, November 6, at 7.30pm. Call 01929 422239 for full details and bookings.