It’s interval time at the Nantwich Players Theatre, a venue that in my 23 years of Cheshire residency I’ve shamefully never put a foot in, writes Sara Royle.
Charlotte Lightbody, director of Githa Sowerby’s The Stepmother, is chatting to audience members who have been invited along to tonight’s dress rehearsal.
She carries a notepad with a few pointers for her cast and crew to take heed of before opening night, but all in all she seems remarkably content with the first act.
It’s perhaps no wonder.
She’s lucked upon a gem of a piece in The Stepmother.
First performed in 1924, the play has only been put on twice in England.
Charlotte had hoped Nantwich Players might have nabbed the British premiere spot, but was pipped to the post by the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond in 2013.
Sowerby’s play tells the tale of Lois Relph, a 19-year-old girl who marries Eustace Gaydon due to her inheriting money that he believes to be his own.
Their marriage sings to the tune of £30,000 and, despite her status as a business woman, Lois is trapped in a partnership with Gaydon.
Sian Weedon and Don Hirst bring this relationship to life.
Weedon’s initial energy is undeniable, but we see her become increasingly vulnerable as Hirst’s aggression builds.
The tension comes to a crescendo when Eustace steamrolls into Lois’ workspace, literally backing her into a corner.
It would be easy to see this play as one purely about the power dynamics between men and women in the 1920s and the lack of autonomy women without any financial means were granted.
However, it is also a play about the strength of female relationships.
Three generations of women grace our stage, all frustratingly reliant on men for monetary reasons beyond their control and yet our actresses are all full of vivacity, good humour and resilience.
Kim Hallam shines as Monica, the typical 1920s girl, desperately in love and determined to get her way.
The relationships between these women, particularly between the daughters and Lois, are what make this play more than a story of deceit and abuse.
Lois fights for Monica and Monica fights for Lois.
I can’t help but feel that Sowerby’s polemic is a feminist one, of female solidarity even in the face of the most brutal of opposition.
The girls on stage performed this with great authenticity and I’m unashamed to say I shed a little tear as the lights fell.
The lights come up again and the director has some notes to give to her cast and crew, who do a magnificent job of swiftly transforming the impressively dressed stage between scenes.
I’m given a quick tour of the backstage, wish Charlotte the luck that she doesn’t really need, and I promise myself that this won’t be my last Nantwich Players production.
The Stepmother runs from February 6-14 and is sold out.
Nantwich Players’ Theatre is open for free tours on Saturday February 7 from 11am-4pm.
Recent Comments