Thomas Hardy's
Tess of The D'Urbervilles
Pure melodrama at its best this classic lends itself beautifully to open-air performance. The novel is written with a passion that never slackens from the glorious opening springtime fertility dance to the dark and desolate final page when the black flag raised on the prison tower signals that justice
has been done.
Our central character is Tess, a maiden who falls victim to male lust and social hypocrisy. The page turning plot begins when Tess sets out, on her drunken father’s behalf, to claim ‘kinship’ with the aristocratic D’Urbervilles and if successful to ask them for financial help in order that they can replace their recently departed horse. Her mother has much grander hopes for the innocent country bred girl. Inexperienced Tess is offered work on the D’Urberville estate and reluctantly makes her home there — only to be seduced by ‘bounder’ Alec D’Urberville.
Of course she is soon cast aside and fate moves against her. Her illegitimate child dies. She leaves home again to become a dairy-maid and her fortunes revive when she meets Angel Clare. They fall in love and marry and on their Wedding night agree to confess their sins! She forgives his but he cannot forgive hers and abandons her. She returns to her family once again and encounters a ‘reformed’ Alec D’Urberville. Thinking Angel gone forever she becomes Alec’s mistress. Clare eventually repents his treatment of her and returns to England to seek her out. Of course Alec is unwilling to release her. The drama closes with the murder of Alec, stabbed by a desperate Tess who is unable to realise the gravity of her conduct. She escapes with Clare for a few blissful days, where they hide out in a deserted mansion. She is finally arrested when they are discovered in the brooding ancient ruins of Stonehenge — symbolic site of pagan sacrifice.
Interwoven with pastoral comedy to lighten the mood, period music, song and dance, the piece - which has been specifically adapted for open-air performance, uses a strong cast of seasoned professionals and pays fine attention to period detail with some beautifully crafted costumes, props and staging.