DAVID COPPERFIELD

DAVID COPPERFIELD

Mad Dogs & Englishmen at the Civic Theatre

21.06.12

Jim Hutchon was in the Civic stalls ...

This production is a series of well-chosen and highly evocative snapshots of the rollercoaster rags to riches to rags to riches existence of David Copperfield – with a more than passing nod at its autobiographical seeds.

The insights into scenes and patches of narrative give full rein to Dickens' lyrical sense, and the two actors brought the few characters they chose to portray into full-on technicolor. I especially liked Ann Courtney’s 'umble and menacing Uriah Heep who ran a shiver down my spine. Equally clever was the exchange between Steerforth and his hapless love-rival Ham Peggotty, engineered to perfection by Stephan Drury with the assistance of a cane and a necktie.

The set was a simple but memorable arrangement of ropes and spars and worked well to give backgrounds to the many interiors of the production. And suitably morose music set the mood for the many ups and downs of the characters.

But I wouldn’t want any child to leave the theatre thinking this thing of glimpses and snatches has given them insight into the rich kaleidoscope of Copperfield – and even the director recommends they go home and read the book for the full experience.

THE MAGICIAN'S BOX

Mad Dogs and Englishmen at Sandford Mill

23.09.10

When the Industrial Revolution finally came to the farms of Essex, John Joseph Mechi, the Magician of Tiptree, was in its forefront.

In Ann Courtney's intriguing piece, he appears before us, not as a wraith, a spectre, but as a Public Man, ambitious for office and eager to embrace change.

His boxes – fetching hundreds at auction today – were his claim to fame, though he is aware that his name means nothing to us now.

A long coffin chest dominates the stage. It is a horsedrawn trap, a kitchen sink, a clerk's counter, Marat's bath.

Four versatile actors bring all the characters in Mechi's story to vivid life – the Edinburgh Henrysons, the Learned Blacksmith, poor frail Fanny, down-to-earth Rose, farm hand Thomas, whose passionate speech on poverty could find echoes even today, thespian Mr Dickens and the Dickensian Mr Goby in his counting house.

The man himself was played with a complicit twinkle in the eye by Noel Jones, who made us care about his dreams, and share Mechi's determination to transform the face of farming, bringing steam ploughs and irrigation to his Model Farm on the “sodden, blasted heath” at Tiptree. Where we now find Wilkin and Sons, who commissioned this fascinating play. It was first performed there in July; but the industrial museum at Sandford Mill was an inspired venue on its tour of Mechi's agricultural heartland.