The Hired Man

Synopsis

A love triangle taking us right to the heart of Cumbrian life in the run up to the first world war. It’s the story of a young married couple and their struggles - to carve a living from the land and to survive working in the coal-mines - just as the gathering storm of war in Europe threatens their community, their love and their lives.

Our Review:

Theo Bosanquet - 23 August 2011

I'm late to the party with this production, which has already enjoyed a raft of rave reviews and created a noise well beyond the confines of the Clapham pub in which it's performed.

And how beautifully it is performed, by a young company who highlight just what an embarrassment of riches this country boasts when it comes to musical theatre talent.

The Hired Man, adapted by Melvyn Bragg from his own novel and with music by Howard Goodall, is the kind of piece that would struggle to get a revival on a major stage in these dire economic times, even though, ironically, it has much to say to the unemployed 'underclass' of today.

Set in Cumbria, it's both a love story and a document of the dual effects of industrialisation and war on a tight-knit rural community. As earnest John Tallentire (excellent newcomer Joe Maxwell) works tirelessly on the land and under it to provide for his family, he fails to see that his wife Emily (Catherine Mort) has cau...

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Latest User Review

rds - 29 August 2011:

I hated this show when I saw the original production back gawd knows when and then again when I was enticed by a friend to see the "Brits on Broadway" production last year at the 59th St theatre. So you can imagine I had to be dragged along to this production, but what a revelation it was. Andrew Keats has done an amazing job and so for the first time I sat through the second act. From the lighting, the design to the casting and the direction this production was spot on. I shall look with great interest at Andrews future work. ...

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