Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Kim Veldman, Lisa Hitchins, Albert Hastings, Stacey Liddell, Carla Cookylnn, Rachel McKeown, Charlotte Holguin, Gillian Lewis, Gemma Doyle, Peter Higham, Sheddie Broddie, John Goodwin, Bertie Jones, Agustin Arraez, Lisa Symonds, Keri Seymour, Amy Stout, Michael Treanor, Ady Potter, Katie Thomas, Janet Fennell, Derek Weigh.
To perform a theatre production based on a hit television programme, a period piece in which the attention to detail of the age is usually the first thing that subconsciously many people sitting down to watch will question, is a brave choice. For a company that is made up of those who love acting for its ventured expression, for the satisfaction of being on stage and becoming someone else it is courage befitting the bold and the fearless.
Candleford, a slice of rural Oxfordshire life brought to bear upon the Unity Theatre stage, the pastoral and rustic charm placed before a willing audience in the heart of Liverpool. It does take courage to put something as great in scope as Candleford for there is always a worry that something that is needed to have the vastness of placement, of time, might lose something of its unique charm when sculpted down to a presentable size; especially when you don’t want to lose the essence of the writing and the original author’s principles. There is no doubting the courage and conviction of the Merseyside Academy of Drama!
To those who have never ventured out of the big city, places like Candleford do exist, towns such as Bicester, an enjoyable bike ride from Oxford, which has rapidly and extraordinarily grown over the last 30 years is one such place in which people like Laura, Dorcas Lane, Thomas Brown the Postman and Mrs Macey would have and still do exist. The place in which the smallest talk is covered in big possibilities, life made up of other’s events and in which the chance to share the well-meaning gossip is akin to today’s virtual world of social media outlets. Everybody knows everybody else’s business because we trust those in that world more so perhaps than our next door neighbours or family.
To capture this introverted state of affairs, this microcosm of life in the world is a huge feather for the cast, the Merseyside Academy of Drama and Director Douglas Adams. Whilst having such a big cast in a slighter space than you might probably wish for makes the visual more demanding, it did not lack for the warmth generated by the entire cast in pursuit of the ideal of telling a very good story. In particular Sheddie Broddle as one of the apprentice Smiths, Albert Hastings and his seemingly boundless energetic portrayals of Laura’s Husband, Sir Timothy and her father was a marvel, Gillian Lewis as the head of the Post Office, Agustin Arraez as the born again Christian postman, and Charlotte Holguin as the older more wise Laura, who narrated with skill the stitching needed to bring the scenes together, all gave performances beyond what the casual attendee of the theatre might expect but who also caught the eye of even the most seasoned of theatre goers.
Whilst the stage decoration was kept to its barest minimum possible, the actors on stage more than made up for it by showing that something as rich in texture as Candleford, can be presented with great warmth and have the right scale of communication.
A piece of charming theatre from the Merseyside Academy of Drama.
Ian D. Hall