The Hereford Times

Wartime tale still resonates

12:41pm Thursday 30th August 2007

WARTIME England. Alone on the stage, Claire is reading a letter from her husband, posted overseas with the British army, telling her that their son, Harry, who joined up despite being under age, has been killed in action.

The watching cast and crew in the rehearsal room are silent. The atmosphere is electric.

This is The Hired Man, in its last week of rehearsals before launching its first ever UK tour here in Hereford.

The story, set in Cumbria in the early 1900s, is one that still resonates now, a century later, because scenes like this - showing a couple dealing with heartbreak and broken dreams - are scenes people relate to.

"It really is about something very real," says Melvyn Bragg, who wrote the original novel and adapted it for the stage.

"Young men going to war. Families struggling with work and relationships... these things happened in this country and they're still happening today."

Even Bragg admits, though, that he was "initially astonished" that composer Howard Goodall (now also famous for his film and TV themes like Blackadder and The Vicar of Dibley) could make a musical out of the heroic working class struggle told in his novel.

But he was convinced, especially when he heard the music.

The original production picked up four Olivier Award nominations and a host of awards, including the Ivor Novello Award for Best Musical, considered by many critics to be one of the finest British musicals of the last 30 years.

Daniel Buckroyd, director of the new production, does not seem phased by this, but he has some reason to be confident.

Since taking over as artistic director at New Perspectives four years ago, he's earned rave reviews for his productions and helped establish the group as one of the finest rural touring companies, its work praised for its energy, imagination and theatrical flair.

"I've loved the music and the passionate, epic story for a long time," says Daniel. "But I've always thought I'd have to wait until I had a big cast and band.

"But a lot of the work I've done on a smaller scale has been a springboard to inventive, creative ways to engage audiences."

Rehearsals only started this summer, but New Perspectives have been planning this - their biggest piece for a long time, and a huge tour for a rural company - since last year.

"Casting was a lengthy process," says Daniel. "We needed to find cracking actors who also had really strong singing voices. And, crucially, we needed a cast who could bond as a team.

"It's about trying to pick people who are committed and passionate about what they're doing."

Early on in rehearsals Buckroyd knew he'd got the casting right.

"There was a wonderful moment, a couple of days after we started rehearsing, when the cast realised not only their own strengths, but the talents they were surrounded by," he said.

"I hope audiences in Hereford will lap it up. I want them to come away feeling touched, moved by the story, and with a real sense of energy that is generated by the different feel of this musical."

The Hired Man is showing at The Courtyard from Thursday, September 6, to Saturday, September 15.

For more details, call the box office on 0870 11 22 330.