This Hardy classic was performed to enthusiastic audiences throughout Dorset during June and July 2009.
Friday 26th June at West Lulworth Village Hall
Sunday 28th June in the Borough Gardens, Dorchester
Saturday 4th July in the grounds of Corfe Castle
Friday 10th July 2009 at Moignes Court, Owermoigne (Norrie Woodhall aged 103 attended this performance!)
Saturday 11th July at Abbotsbury in St Nicholas church
Norrie Woodhall, the last surviving person to have known Thomas Hardy, asked the New Hardy Players to perform ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ because it had never been performed by the original Hardy Players, of which she had been a member.
This adaptation by Devina Symes, portrays this tragic tale in a poignant, profound and humorous way; the latter coming mainly from the local Casterbridge characters, whom Hardy loved.
Although the story begins in 1832, when a drunken 21 year old Michael Henchard, sells his wife, Susan, and daughter, at a fair; the main story unfolds eighteen years later at the time of uncertain harvests, which immediately preceded the repeal of the Corn Laws. During that interim period, Henchard’s desperate desire to make amends and improve himself is achieved when he is made Mayor of Casterbridge, and his wife and daughter return.
With the arrival of the genial Donald Farfae to the town, and the return of Henchard’s old lover, the coquettish Lucetta, a tangled web of deceit and betrayal unfolds.
As this gripping tale unravels, it would appear that the volatile Henchard could have reversed his situation many times, but as Hardy himself wrote about his central character: ‘Character is Fate.’
