THE New Hardy Players have built up an enviable reputation for the performance of plays based on the works of Thomas Hardy.
Now members of the company are mounting a rehearsed reading of an earlier play, The London Hermit or Rambles in Dorsetshire by the acclaimed eighteenth century dramatist John O’Keeffe.
The London Hermit is set in Regency Lulworth. Humphrey Whimmy has made his fortune in the East Indies, and has set himself up in a mansion complete with ornamental pleasure gardens and statuary.
Young Pranks is a fast-living young buck addicted to wine, women, song and horse racing. To escape his creditors he takes on the post as resident Hermit in Whimmy’s garden grotto.
The play is a delight, full of wit, wry observation and local references.
In a rehearsed reading scripts are used, but the scenes are partly dramatised and the actors use some costume and props. The evening promises to be very lively.
The rehearsed reading of the London Hermit takes place at Dorset County Museum in High West Street, Dorchester on Friday, April 29 at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £10. Visit dorsetcountymuseum.org
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