By Edward Bond
Directed by Jonathan Munby
Set & costume by Paul Willis
Composer Grant Olding
Video designer: Luke Halls
Bath Theatre Royal
Saturday 31st October 2026 14.30
CAST
Jennifer Saunders – Louise Rafi
Sean Delaney – Willie Carson
Lloyd Hutchinson – Evens
Dominic Rowan – Hatch
Daniel Rainford – Hollarcut
Holly Godliman – Rose
Robert Mountford- Vicar
David Tarkenter – Carter
Joe Shire – Thompson
Lucy Briers – Jessica Tilehouse
Nia Gwynne- Myfanwy Price
Meg Basham – Jilly
Camilla Anvar – Rachel
Connie Walker – Davis
Elliot Goodhill-Colin
John Venon – Ensemble
Sydney Spencer- Ensemble
Lincoln James – Ensemble
Theo Birakas – Ensemble
THEATRE ROYAL SUMMARY:
It is 1907, the height of the Edwardian era. A wild storm shakes a small East Anglian seaside village to its core. Amidst the confusion, all attention is focussed on the activities of the village’s self-appointed ‘First Lady’ Mrs. Rafi, who is preparing her ladies for an amateur dramatic performance of Orpheus and Eurydice…
A cast of eighteen are assembled for Edward Bond’s 1973 play. Not only that, a highly experienced cast too. It hasn’t been performed for a long time, but has had past acclaimed versions at the Royal Court and National Theatre. The play is noted for its mix of high comedy, absurd drama, and serious tragedy.
If I’d seen this in 1973, I would have come out like Neil from The Young Ones saying, ‘Wow! HEAVY!’ (I admit I looked rather like Neil from The Young Ones then.) Fifty three years on, my reaction is quite different. Some plays transcend the time they were written, others are pinned to the time they were written. It’s not plot, it’s style. This one is pinned. It’s like taking the high comedy of Peter Barnes The Ruling Class or Joe Orton, and tacking it on to Waiting for Godot.
It starts with a storm at sea accompanied by thunderous naval guns. The naval practice guns may perplex most viewers, and they will recur. Here in Poole, they were a feature for years, as the navy used to practice firing at the Dorset coast and the boom travelled twenty-five miles. They took over the land and village of Tyneham in World War II as taget practice. Were they a feature of 1907 East Anglia? Were they a rumble of 1914?
A small sailing boat sinks. The coastguard volunteers, Mr Hatch and the drunken Evans fail to respond to the survivor. Throughout the deceased, Colin, does aerial ballet on a rope. He will do more athletic dance later.
The survivor of the sinking boat is Willie Carson (Sean Delaney). The dead Colin was betrothed to Mrs Rafi’s niece, Rose (Holly Godliman) and everyone in the village knew and loved Colin. The couple, the shipwrecked Willie and the innocent controlled by a relative, Rose, will slowly come together. So far you might see why it’s been compared to The Tempest. Shakespeare could blend tragedy, romance and comedy. Edward Bond thought he could.
Mr Hatch (Dominic Rowan) is the local draper, and is bullied by the local alpha female, Mrs Louise Rafi (Jennifer Saunders) who is accompanied by her put-upon ladies’ companion, Miss Jessica Tilehouse (Lucy Briers)
Jennifer Saunders as Mrs Rafi. Dominic Rowan as Mr Hatch.
Our first reaction was this is Dame Edna Everage and the long-suffering Madge on TV. We were not alone. I only looked at reviews afterwards, and one had exactly the same thought. Barry Humphries started playing the character in the 1950s, and Dame Edna appeared in the Barry McKenzie film in 1972, so yes, Edward Bond could have been consciously borrowing. Certainly Saunders and Briers are channelling them. Jennifer Saunders excels in double acts, and Lucy Briars is the perfect foil.
The draper is mad and believes aliens are trying to attack the world. His assistant Hollarcut (Daniel Rainsford) is convinced to assist him. A pair of Mrs Raffi’s gardeners are inexplicably hidden in a back room. We are into the theatre of the absurd and in looking for aliens later they have saucepans as helmets. Watching, I mused that Monty Python seemed hilarious in 1973 when the play premiered and rewatched now is largely no longer funny.
We see Evens (Lloyd Hutchinson), who lives on the beach in a shed. Yes, it says ‘Evens’ I heard ‘Evans.’ I’m not sure whether Evens is Vladimir or Estragon. However we keep reverting to scenes on the beach, and these are two character scenes, seated both staring straight out at the audience and being deeply meaningful. Very Godot.
There are two BIG comedy scene both starring Mrs Rafi. They are rehearsing Orpheus and Eurydice with Mrs Rafi as Orpheus. Dame Edna Mrs Rafi bullies the cast, and Madge Miss Tilehouse is restricted to prompter and assisting the carpenter and resents it. Of course the star Orpheus’ rehearses in full costume.
Miss Price (Nia Gwynne) has to play the dog Cerebus and has been studying canine behaviour rather too carefully. The vicar (Robert Mountford) can’t focus on his part and goes off on asides. He wonders if tights will be suitable for a man of the cloth. Yes, this is all five star farce. Jennifer Saunders is magnificent. I assume Orpheus and Eurydice is a connection to seeking a dead loved one. OK, but it’s tenuous. Still, as a standalone scene, it’s marvellous.
AmDram is something actors love lampooning. I guess in their (our) teens, they all did amateur productions and there would be a pair of older permanent leading role Thespians they had to watch bellowing over-dramatically.
The other big comedy scene in part one is Mr Hatch going mad when he finds Mrs Raffi is not going to buy the vast amount of velvet curtain material and cuts it up. The cost of the material will drive him out of business. I see. The draper is the middle class squashed between Mrs Rafi’s upper class and the gardeners working class. Not that it’s political or anything.
Sean Delaney as Willie Carson, Holly Godliman as Rose
They are waiting for the body to wash up. It does, but we have a long, no, very long scene of Willie and Rose (let’s not delve into Bond’s choice of names too far here, because he’s usually Mr Carson). The body is lying behind them and they don’t notice. Brilliant totally motionless work from Elliot Goodhill. Eventually they do notice the corpse. Evens appears, Rose is sent off to get a cart for the body. Carson waits and then Mr Hatch turns up and stabs the body in a frenzy, thinking it’s Carson who is an alien.
At this point my overall rating is diving very fast, but then we get the outstandingly best scene. They are to scatter Colin’s ashes on the cliff top. Mrs Rafi carries the vase of ashes. They sing hymns, and Miss Tilehouse takes over the lead vocal very loudly from Mrs Rafi and Lucy Briers does it so well that she got a spontaneous burst of applause from the audience.
The vicar tries to do a funny voice when he describes asking for the naval guns to be silenced during the service. Mrs Rafi upstages him. It’s great stuff. No detail give aways. Jennifer Saunders is the centre through which all the others comedy works. It’s her reactions, her movements that make everyone in the scene so funny.
There is a long monologue. Mrs Rafi explains that the villagers like to be bullied but will get their revenge when she’s old and in a wheelchair. That was the other point where there was spontaneous applause as she exited.
Evans and Carson have a long Vladimir and Estragon scene staring out. This is the meaning of life and stuff. When Hollarcut came on with a big stick, was I the only one who thought, ‘Ah, now here comes Pozo.’ The thing about these dialogue scenes is I really got time to admire the video projection, cliffs and sky for Willie and Rose. Wetlands grass for Evens and Willie. Constant movement, but gently.
The good points. The set design, video projection design, sound effects and Grant Golding’s music are five star. State of the art. The set has triangular sails framing it with a spar across the bottom of the projection area. The drapers shop and Mrs Rafi’s drawing room fly in from above, the shed is rolled on and off.
Jennifer Saunders is who she is. She’s working steadily towards her Lady Bracknell. Mrs Rafi is a part made for her. Lady Bracknell meets Madame Arcati. Lucy Briers excels, as do all the women in the rehearsal.
Dominic Rowan was easily the best Vincentio in Measure For Measure we ever saw. As the Draper he’s excellent, particularly in the cutting cloth scene. When he has to appear totally bonkers in Part Two it’s a part I wouldn’t wish on any actor. Robert Mountford’s vicar is fabulous.
The gardeners and Mr Hatch’s assistant all looked physically good. I was in a very good central stalls position and could hear dialogue perfectly- except for those three. We agreed afterwards we didn’t understand a word Daniel Rainsford was saying in his Mummerset accent. Nor the gardeners. This is not entirely their fault. Bond writes ‘yoo’ for ‘you’ and ‘hev’ for ‘have’ in their lines. Why? This what Bond wrote:
Hollarcut: My ma doo laugh. She hev all the neighbours in. She goo hollerin arter ’em down the road.
My Creative Writing hat on. This is not how to suggest dialogue. Fortunately either this production deleted Bond’s N-word simile, or we couldn’t hear it. The production states ‘East Anglia 1907’. Bond wisely states East Coast 1907 in the text, which means a director could place it anywhere between Berwick and Margate, and then go for an accent for the rural group. I’ve lived in Norwich. I didn’t hear East Anglia.
But Lloyd Hutchinson would be at the top of my cast list for a Godot revival.
Both the young pair, Willie and Rose are first rate.
Karen’s sentence review walking to the car park, ‘Five star production of an atrocious play.’ I’ll go along with that. Mine was ‘Veers from brilliant and hilarious scenes to pretentious guff.’ The last two words describe Edward Bond’s programme note from 1974 on comedy and tragedy. I realise we’re right out on a limb. I did not read any reviews until afterwards. Four and five star are the norm. All are dazzled by Jennifer Saunders role. and very positive. The only review that comes anywhere near our appraisal is Kris Hallett in What’s On Stage.
“The problem, if there is one, lies with the play itself. Bond throws extraordinary amounts into the air. Class satire collides with absurdist comedy. Philosophical debate sits alongside broad farce. At times, it feels like watching four different weather systems occupy the same sky. There are passages that sparkle, images that linger and performances that stay with you long after the curtain falls. Yet the whole never quite gathers the force of its individual parts.“
So my rating. Overall an average between individual 5 star scenes and 5 star set and sound and video and the actual full play that Bond wrote itself. I’ll add that I have the text, and this production improved every aspect.
***
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
five star
Justin Lowe, All That Dazzles *****
four star
Holly O’Mahony, THe Guardian ****
Domenic Cavendish The Telegraph ****
Neil Norman The Stage ****
Ben Theatre & Tonic ****
Simon Bishop Stage Talk ****
three star
Kris Hallett, What’s On Stage ***
LINKS ON THIS BLOG
JONATHAN MUNBY
The Country Wife – Chichester 2018
King Lear, with Ian McKellen, Chichester 2017
First Light, by Mark Hayhurst, Chichester 2016
The Merchant of Venice, Globe, 2015
Twelfth Night, English Touring Theatre, Brighton 2015
Therese Raquin, by Zola, Bath Theatre Royal 2014
Antony & Cleopatra, Globe 2014
JENNIFER SAUNDERS
Blithe Spirit- by Noël Coward, Bath, 2019
Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde, Classic Spring 2018
SEAN DELANEY
The Vortex, by Noël Coward, Chichester 2023
LLOYD HUTCHINSON
The Government Inspector, by Gogol, Chichester 2025
Romeo & Juliet, National Theatre 2021 (Lord Capulet)
Absolute Hell, by Rodney Ackland, NT 2018
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Young Vic 2017 (Puck, Egeus)
DOMINIC ROWAN
A Woman of No Importance, by Oscar Wilde, Classic Spring, 2017
The Tempest, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 2016
Measure for Measure, Globe (Vincentio)
Ah! Wilderness, Young Vic 2015
Medea, NT Live
ROBERT MOUNTFORD
Much Ado About Nothing– Globe 2024
Macbeth, Tara Arts, Poole 2015 (Macbeth)
DAVID TARKENTER
The Knight of The Burning Pestle- Wanamaker, 2014
JOE SHIRE
The Tempest RSC 2016
LUCY BRIERS
The Other Bennett Sister (TV series) 2026
The Seagull, Chichester 2015
Ivanov – Chichester 2015
NIA GWYNNE
Timon of Athens, RSC 2018
Titus Andronicus, RSC 2017
King Lear, RSC 2016
Henry IV Parts I and II, RSC 2014
CONNIE WALKER
The Taxidermist’s Daughter Chichester 2022
The Importance of Being Earnest, Watermill 2019
Leave a Reply