Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Tony Marshall, Bronté Barbé, Graham Fellows, Geoff Leesley, Jason Forbes, Katie Moore.
The Cricket On The Hearth may not be considered by many in today’s world as being a tale of dramatic substance, especially when set alongside the more weightier themes discussed and revealed in Charles Dickens’ major works, but for one of the sheer all time greats of English literature, one of the few to have an entire genre named after him, the short novella perhaps rings more true of the human need for the unexplained to hold significance than that which came before in the 1843 story, A Christmas Carol.
Written originally a couple of years after the much-loved tale of redemption and the embracing of modern celebrations clashing with older traditions that were symbolic of the austere and even severe religious connections of the early Victorian period, The Cricket On The Hearth is a light-hearted comedy of its own errors, picking up perhaps on the delight of miscommunication and spirited misidentify captured so well by William Shakespeare in his own comedies.
It takes genuine affection to go against the winter’s retelling of Scrooge’s powerful encounter with his past and the reckoning of his future, and instead produce an audio play that instead finds great joy and adapted with vision and insight, and that is exactly how Eddie Robson and Jonathan Morris have unveiled the delight of the piece, and with other Big Finish/Doctor Who alumni involved, Lisa Bowerman who directs with intrigue and absolute value, and the composer Howard Carter adding charm and musical magic to the occasion, that affection jumps right off the scripted page and into the minds of the listener with unrelenting pleasure.
The gratifying and uplifting tale of parcel carrier John Peerybingle and those who are protected by the watchful eye of the mysterious cricket is brought to life by Average Romp, and on the back of their acclaimed 2022 release of The Chimes, the play delves deeply into the beauty that surrounds the ethereal when placed against the human dilemma at hand.
With an ill-matched wedding at the centre of the play, a missing man, a stranger in town to whom the aforementioned parcel deliverer suspects of advances against his family, and a blind woman who sees more in the human heart than others, the blending of Shakespearian type comedy and Dicken’s own personal eye for the dramatic is an infusion of warmth and style, captured with high regard for the lesser known of the Christmas tales.
The Average Romp team deserve applause for this timely play, a reminder that the season is meant for celebration, but not excess, of joy, but not the sorrow that comes with planned misery; The Cricket On The Hearth is a tale of unpretentious brilliance.
Ian D. Hall