The Hired Man - Review

Union Theatre, London


****

Music and lyrics by Howard Goodall
Book by Melvyn Bragg
Directed by Brendan Matthew

The Hired Man Company

Taken from Melvyn Bragg’s acclaimed description of England’s Lake District as the 19th century passed into the 20th, The Hired Man is a richly fruited glimpse of a way of life long since passed. Howard Goodall’s melodies encompass a range of traditional English sources, as the musical’s narrative charts a transition in the nation’s working men (and women), from open-skied agriculture to coal-consuming heavy industry against a backdrop of The Great War.

Brendan Matthew makes a decent job of the libretto’s vast landscape. From the opening Song of the Hired Men, both the time and the place of the show are firmly anchored as we chart the titular John Tallentire’s arc through a challenging life and love.

Playing Tallentire is Ifan Gwilym-Jones who convinces as the muscular man of the land, far happier behind a plough than a coal pick, but ultimately forced to work the pits when the money for labourers dries up above ground. Gwilym-Jones possesses a fine voice, never stronger than in the first half denouement of What A Fool I’ve Been which is spine-tingling in its intensity. Elsewhere though (and along with many other members of the company) his voice is hard to hear - and this from a reviewer sat in the front row! Sasha Regan’s Union Theatre is truly a beautiful off-West End performing space, but (and this has been said before) producers need to mic their casts if many of these well trained voices are even to be heard, let alone appreciated. 

Opposite Gwilym-Jones, Rebecca Gilliland plays Emily his wife, bringing a focussed energy to a role that draws on complex emotions. Gilliland has a presence (and vocal power) that commands the stage and she makes fine enthusiastic work of Now For The First Time, along with the far more challenging If I Could. She also cleverly enlivens the complex passions that burn inside one of Goodall’s most intriguing leading ladies, not least in a heartfelt I Wouldn't be the First.

Notable amongst the company is Jack McNeill who captures the pre-teen and teenage youthfulness of the Tallentire’s son Harry, while at the opposite end of the age spectrum Christopher Lyne turns in all manner of magnificently voiced cameos, playing the story’s older men.

Jonathan Carlton puts in a fabulous shift as Seth, John Tallentire’s brother who becomes a committed Trade Unionist, fighting for miners’ workplace safety. As a history lesson The Union Song does well to remind us of the honourable, proud and decent principles that were once at the core of the Labour movement. There’s yet more history on offer with the show’s reference to the First World War. Goodall’s heartfelt chords (and that sublime key change) in Farewell Song will always make a loving tribute to those who never returned, even more so this year as we mark the 100th anniversary of the horrific Battle of Passchendaele.

Matthew’s direction is at its best in the ensemble numbers where Charlotte Tooth’s imaginative choreography supported by her lithe and graceful dance captain Rebecca Withers offer up some of the finest movement currently to be found on London’s fringe. The Union space is compact and in the show’s large routines that take place in the market square, the tavern and especially The Work Song, Tooth’s work is a visual treat.

At the keyboard Richard Bates works hard directing his two strings players. Goodall’s northern English tunes typically work best with a spot of brass, but notwithstanding this gap the musical accompaniment was polished and perfectly delivered.

The Hired Man makes for a pleasing evening’s entertainment and if some dodgy sound and lighting cues can be ironed out, this show may well yet mature into a truly fine production.

Runs until 12th August 2017

Photo credit: PND Photography

The Hired Man In Concert - Review

Cadogan Hall, London

****

Music and lyrics by Howard Goodall

Book and narration by Melvyn Bragg

Directed by Samuel Hopkins

It is all too rare that an established musical is performed as a stand-alone concert. Taking the rich beauty of Howard Goodall's score and having it sung by some of the industry's biggest names, it was no wonder that The Hired Man in Concert, for one night only, was a hot ticket. Not just that the leads were joined by an onstage ensemble and accompanied by a stunning 14 piece orchestra, conducted beautifully by Andrew Linnie, narration was also delivered at various points, by none other than the book's author, Melvyn Bragg. 

Set in England around the turn of the 20th century, The Hired Man focuses on the day to day life of those who lived on and worked the Cumbrian farms out on the fells and who were inevitably to go off and fight in the Great War. From the outset Goodall's score richly defines atmosphere and emotion, going hand in hand with events as they unfold. For audience members the piece is a roller coaster of emotions and the celebratory highs and tragic lows were not lost within this concert version. 

Amongst the cast there wasn't a weak link to be found, particularly amongst the vocal power houses of the leading voices. However while all seven leads delivered excellence, it was a shame that all referred frequently to script and score in front of them, detracting from the power of both spoken and sung performances. Hiccups aside, the cast delivered sterling performances.

Jenna Russell's Emily Tallentire bubbled with detail and nuance in all the moments of her character's uncertainty, while John Owen-Jones made Goodall's music sound easy, adding just the right amount of passion and struggle. Both performers are so well known for so much, but tonight it was just a treat to hear them get their vocal teeth stuck into Goodall's mellifluous melodies.

And for the aficionados in the crowd, there was the neatest of touches. On stage and in a marvellous performance singing the role of Seth Tallentire (John’s brother) was Stewart Clarke. It had been Clarke’s parents Paul Clarkson and Julia Hills who’d played John and Emily in 1984 when the show premiered in the West End. 

Director Samuel Hopkins ensured that the minimal staging complimented rather than confused proceedings. Simple costuming gave a sense of each of the characters' backgrounds, while stunning projections filled the immense white back drop of the Cadogan Hall's rear wall. Those images, alongside Bragg's narration, were welcome sign posts guiding the audience through the show's key settings and contextual changes. 

Notwithstanding a few teething issues (be easily forgiven in a one night only gig) the show still captivated its audience, the concert format bringing a magnifying glass to Goodall's stunning score. This is without doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of British Musical Theatre and after this concert treatment, one cannot help but feel that The Hired Man needs another outing in London's West End.

Reviewed by: Andrew Milton

The Hired Man - Review

St James Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Howard Goodall
Book by Melvyn Bragg
Directed by Nikolai Foster

Dominic Harrison and Amara Okereke

The programme notes for this production written by Howard Goodall himself, speak of the poignant significance of The Hired Man being staged in 2014, the centenary of the Great War. Goodall references the youthful age of the soldiers slaughtered in that infernal conflict, bringing a haunting resonance to bear upon this powerful interpretation of the show, produced by NYMT with a predominantly teenage cast.

The tale spans a thirty year stretch of English history, betwixt the 19th and 20th centuries and follows John Tallentire, the titular hired man and his journey through the economic evolution of his beloved Cumbrian fells. We see John shift from being a skilled ploughman, to an oppressed life below ground in a coal mine.  The demands of industry are replacing the more traditional rural lifestyles whilst against this backdrop, wife Emily falls into an adulterous affair with Jackson Pennington the dashing son of the local landowner and the First World War looms, ultimately to devastate the Tallentire family and the wider community.

Goodall and Bragg created an ingenious piece of theatre with The Hired Man. The first act is intimate, focussed upon John, his family and Emily’s extra-marital desires, before the second act widens the musical’s scope exponentially, addressing the march of industry, the rise of the trade union movement and the brutality of the War.

Under Nikolai Foster’s generally perceptive eye Dominic Harrison does well as John, carrying the burden of the narrative through his performance. It’s not easy for any teenage boy to play a cuckold, though Harrison rises to the challenge with a creditable performance as a good, if wronged man. Opposite him Amara Okereke, Maria in NYMT’s 2013 West Side Story is Emily, reprising her exquisite vocal work, combined with immaculate nuance, to create her complex character. A Yorkshire lass, Okereke’s natural northern brogue suits the play’s geography perfectly. The cast of thirty are at their best in Nick Winston’s splendidly choreographed numbers, none better than the multi-part harmonies that close each act, thrilling with the fusion of melody, lyrics and a stage full of young people in perfect synchronicity. 

An actor-muso production, many of the company are all the more remarkable for mastering their instrument on stage as well as acting. Joe Eaton-Kent’s exquisite work on violin/viola more than matches his work as Jackson Pennington, whilst amongst the (many) unsung gems of this cast Gloria Obianyo’s guitar playing adds a folksy contemporary touch to the sound not commonly heard. The credit for this innovative musical impact with musical director Sarah Travis. Re-arranging numbers to accommodate the actor-muso transition it turns out that much like adding mineral water to a fine scotch malt, so has Travis taken Goodall’s score and opened it up, releasing hitherto hidden yet beautiful complexities. These revelations are particularly highlighted in act one’s Fill It To The Top and in the second half’s haunting post-war elegy, Day Follows Day. 

Farewell Song, sung by the entire company immediately before the young men leave to  face the terrors of France, remains one of the most moving songs in the musical theatre canon, its words depicting  the anguish of such painful partings. As Goodall’s exquisite key changes pluck at our heart strings, if ever a song were to merit inclusion in November’s annual Festival of Remembrance it is this one.

Ben Cracknell’s stark lighting work cleverly depicts the shifts in the story’s time and location, whilst Matthew Wright’s flag-stoned stage perfectly anchors the show’s era. Notably absent from the production team is a hair and make-up professional. This is an unfortunate omission as the show’s final scenes, of Emily and John in more senior years, demand a more visible change in appearances to mark the passing of time and would have assisted the young actors in portraying their parents’ generation more convincingly.

But bravo to NYMT and the inspirational vision of producer Jeremy Walker. Yet again, in an incredibly short space of time and coached by some of the industry’s finest creatives, talented young amateurs have gone on to realise theatrical excellence on a commercial stage.

The Hired Man

Curve Studio, Leicester

****

Book and lyrics by Melvyn Bragg

Music by Howard Goodall

Directed by Daniel Buckroyd



Julie Atherton and Kit Orton

The Hired Man is quite possibly the greatest ever English musical. In a story that avoids sentiment and cliché, Bragg and Goodall open a window into a tightly knit Cumbrian community, via a tale that spans the reigns of Queen Victoria through to King George V and addresses the growth of industry, the challenge it presented to those who worked the land, the rise of the trade union movement, the devastation of the First World War and the emerging trend towards women’s emancipation. And all this through perceptive verse and the most stirring of scores.

David Hunter, an ITV Superstar semi-finalist is John Tallentire, the hired man of the title who is introduced at a hiring fair, in the Song Of The Hired Men, a striking melody reprised throughout the show. Newly arrived in Crossbridge village, together with pregnant wife Emily,  John is an honest hard working man, blind to the subtleties of life and oblivious to his beautiful wife’s needs for more than just the “same blessed rain on washing day”. When Emily first spies local landowner’s son and cad Jackson Pennington wrestling in a local tavern, she cannot help but immediately flirt with him. Inevitably trysting follows and act one culminates with the blindly-trusting John excruciatingly learning of his having been cuckolded.

Act two condenses a vast span of years and plot into a credible hour of performance. The exploitation of the coal miners and the emergence of a union in response to their hellish working conditions together with the slaughter and devastated aftermath of war are tackled confidently by the writers.

Daniel Buckroyd, Artistic Director of Colchester’s co-producer Mercury Theatre is no stranger to the work and on Juliet Shillingford's cleverly designed sloping slabs of land, that depict Cumbrian fells as vividly as the Somme, he extracts clever concepts, particularly with the boisterous tavern scenes and a gripping penultimate moment, set at a Whitehaven coal face that has been terrifyingly extended far out under the sea. Yet Buckroyd also makes some disappointing short cuts. Blackrock, a phenomenally stirring song of the dangers of mining is an opportunity wasted, with minimal acting action being added to its powerful lyrics.  Farewell Song, sung as the local men leave for war and which could arguably be included in the liturgy of any Remembrance Service such is its power, has some of the most beautifully engineered key changes ever composed and should, in the right hands,  be able to effortlessly prise open the tear ducts. In this production, sadly, it fails to hit that spot.

John's is a very tough role to portray.  A solid traditional man of the land, black and white in opinion and seeking only to work hard to provide for his family, his naivete lends a profound complexity to his make up. Whilst unquestionably beautifully voiced, Hunter doesn’t quite reach the depths of credibility that could make this character truly believable.

Julie Atherton however is a definitive Emily.  Her pitch and tone are perfection and her acting is simply flawless. A woman, fiercely loving and protective as a mother, yet with a burning desire to broaden her world through both a passionate love affair and later in going out to work. (In an era still brimming with chauvinism,  it was rare for married women to earn a wage.) The frustrated passion that Atherton injects into her character’s supressed desire for Jackson is almost red-hot with stifled sexual yearning and when Bragg’s story draws Emily into experiencing tragedy, her response and sobs of grief are perfectly delivered to claw at our heart strings without once becoming mawkish.  Kit Orton’s Jackson (also a dab hand on the violin)  together with Jenni Bowden’s singing and trumpet-playing performances are noteworthy cast members amongst a talented company who all perform with wit and clarity throughout.

Under pianist / MD Richard Reeday the show’s music is simply yet subtly arranged. A modestly sized band, drawn mainly from the cast who pick up their instruments as and when required and with an inspired inclusion of harp and trumpet. Never has Goodall’s music sounded so perfect, with just enough mournful trumpet melodies lines to depict the North poignantly and passionately.

Albeit possibly deserving of an alternative title: “The Hired Man’s Wife”, this production nonetheless remains what its writers always intended. A living history lesson, beautifully told, of England’s transition into the 20th century.

Runs until April 27th

 

Feature: Andrew Keates and Robert McWhir

Encore: Andrew Keates and Robert McWhir, The Landor Theatre

Those familiar with The Phantom of the Opera will know that Paris’ fictional Opera Populaire in which the show is set, is run by two charming if somewhat pompous gentlemen, M. Firmin and M. Andre, forever attending to and fussing over the requirements and the budgets of their productions, the quality of which, courtesy of the Opera Ghost, was often outstanding. Remove the pomposity (and of course a good few years) from these Frenchmen, shift the location to a quiet suburban London street and you start to come close to the talents of the creative managing duo of the Landor Theatre that are Robert McWhir and Andrew Keates.

In recent years London’s fringe musical theatre has seen a number of venues mount very impressive productions, few more trailblazing and audacious than the Landor Theatre’s. Perched above the pub of the same name, the former Functions Room (complete with dumbwaiter from the kitchen and Guinness pipes emerging from a wall) has been transformed with two tiers of seating into a rectangular performance space that feels almost Tardis-like, such is the quality of the theatre’s output. Awards and rave reviews are commonplace to this establishment (it scooped four Off West End awards this year alone) and like the Olympian achievements of recent weeks, the theatre’s acclaim has been garnered through nothing less than the complete devotion and jaw-dropping hard work of Keates and McWhir. Between them, these two men have taken innovative scores and libretti, attracted the cream of theatre’s performing and creative talents and presented imaginative productions to hardened London audiences.

In the mid 1990s Linda Edwards, who worked at the Italia Conti stage school next door, was invited by the forward-thinking landlord of the Landor pub to start a theatre upstairs. Robert McWhir first came to the theatre in 1997 with the production City of Angels, and almost immediately felt a connection with the place. After discussions with Linda, he was invited to manage the theatre, and has since worked almost continuously at the Landor, performing in and developing numerous shows. His close working relationship with Keates is evident and Andrew would go as far as to say that in Rob he has found not only a best friend but also a father figure, in terms of his professional respect for McWhir. One of the reasons that Keates wanted to work at the Landor was simply to ease the burden on the McWhir, allowing the more experienced man to evolve into the role of the theatre’s artistic director.

At 28, Keates (who is by some years the younger of the pair), became entranced with the creative potential of the Landor whilst appearing in Into The Woods. The theatre’s affinity with Sondheim’s work appealed to Keates, with McWhir then mounting a groundbreaking production of Follies. Never before had this most challenging of Sondheim scores been professionally attempted by a fringe company. Sceptics said it couldn’t be done, but Josef Weinberger Ltd, the music publisher, took a supportive approach to McWhir’s plans and established West End names such as Claire Moore and Bryan Kennedy joined the cast. Eschewing an orchestra for the plain musical backing of just a piano, the Landor production went on to win the resounding support of its esteemed New York composer himself.

The simple space and dimensions of the Landor create a hothouse of creativity. In a world where theatre workshops are commonplace, Keates is adamant that the Landor is a theatre workhouse. The building sports very few showbiz trimmings or trappings; there is but one backstage loo, and that is to be shared by all the cast. Front of house, economies of both space and cash demand that all involved in a show are forced to be imaginative in their work. But this workhouse works. Howard Goodall and Melvyn Bragg’s The Hired Man, had struggled in its 25 year life to find a professional stage upon which it could flourish. At the Landor the show didn’t just take root, it bloomed. Using the simplest of props, barrels and bales of straw, an impassioned cast took the audience through Bragg’s vast landscape of northern Britain at the start of the 20^th century and on to the horrors of the Great War. Directed by Keates and up against stiff competition, the show scooped best musical at this year’s Off West End Awards. Such is the respect that has been earned, Howard Goodall has proposed that his new musical A Winters Tale, taken from Shakespeare, be premiered at the Landor, directed by Keates, later this year.

McWhir emphasises that whilst the Landor is no more than a “theatre above a pub”, he wants it to be the best such theatre. He knows the strengths and pitfalls of the place better than anyone and is a master of working productions around the constraints and features of the space. One such feature is an entry to the backstage wings that is literally a door, centre stage-back. Nothing fancy, just a door. This doorway typically becomes a scenic feature of Landor productions and even when shows tour, the “Landor door” is an integral part of the set design, as I observed during the premiere of Black Slap that they took to Edinburgh last year.

The pair are pleased with the extent to which bold musical theatre is being embraced by London’s fringe, and look warmly upon Danielle Tarento’s recent productions at Southwark Playhouse and the volume of work that emerges from the Union Theatre. Keates, however, observes with irony that in 2011, apart from London Road, he cannot recall a succesful new musical premiere in a mainstream, commercial London theatre. Whilst the box office draw of the jukebox musical is recognised as a source of employment and wealth across the industry, both he and McWhir are sad that it has becomes increasingly challenging for new or newly-discovered musical theatre to become a financial success.

Those whom they have directed or produced hold both Andrew and Rob in high esteem. Kim Ismay, a West End actress with more years as Mamma Mia’s Tanya than it would be appropriate to mention, recently took two weeks out from that Greek idyll to perform a one-woman show at the Landor. “The intimate and surprisingly versatile space suited the piece so well,” she comments, “although bigger pieces with larger casts seem to have just as much success. Andrew and Robert simply have such passion for their theatre.” Ismay is not wrong; the pair’s passion is infectious and widely regarded. Not many pub theatres would expect The Times’ Libby Purves to even attend the press night of their show; she gave the Landor’s recently opened Curtains an impressive 4 stars.

The Landor’s is not simply a stage that is frequently hired out for other touring companies to use; the team’s talents are focussed on the productions that they mount and the theatre that they manage. As the theatre’s income is insufficient to employ anyone else, this dynamic duo do everything from directing and casting through to box office, website maintenance and programme design, right on down to cleaning and hoovering the theatre areas - including that backstage loo. Keates acknowledges that they probably do the jobs of 30 people, in a 70-80 hour working week. “When I was directing The Hired Man, I would run from rehearsal, to box office, to publicity. There is a lot of give from us here and not a great deal to take, but the rewards are huge, just not in the financial sense.”

“Venues such as the Landor make theatre as accessible and affordable as it should be, without skimping on standards or the resulting experience,” says Kim Ismay. Keates and McWhir simply do not seem to recognise the concept of skimping on standards. They aim to work with the best and produce the best.

Like the Opera Populaire, the Landor has its history, and its ghosts. McWhir recalls the death of that visionary landlord, who peacefully passed away in the flat at the top of the building, even to the extent of remembering the man’s body being taken away from the premises. Keates adds that he occasionally sleeps in the theatre (though only if a production has a sofa in the set), and that on more than one occasion he has sensed a spiritual presence in the room with him. From the quality of the shows that the Landor produces, one wonders if perhaps such a spirit is bestowing a positive aura on the theatre.

Since I spoke to Andrew and Rob, Andrew has announced that Curtains would be his last show as theatre manager with the Landor, making our conversation even more poignant. He adds :"I've had an incredible two years at the Landor, filled with hard-work, passion and determination. The pay off has been seeing the theatre develop into one of London's most successful theatres, winning countless awards and critical acclaim for productions. It's an unstoppable little theatre and one that I have been very proud to have called home."

By Jonathan Grant

For more information on the Landor Theatre, visit http://www.landortheatre.co.uk/

This article was first published on The Public Reviews