Rehearsals for the July production of the stage adaptation of the classic 1930s novel Cold Comfort Farm are at the tidying up stage, or should that be grubbing down? The titular farm isn’t supposed to be particularly clean, after all.
Your dutiful Bawds reporter did wonder if the show’s director Barry Brown was available to tell us about the production. Alas, he was far too busy ensuring that the weeds were encroaching nicely on the farm kitchen. Luckily, Phil Lloyd, in between scenes as the peculiar Urk Starkadder was willing to have a quick chat. He was sporting an unusual hat and holding what looked like the back end of a pheasant. He was in costume, he was quick to assure.
What is the Cold Comfort Farm about?
Stella Gibbons’ original novel was published in 1932 and it’s a hoot! Its legacy is an odd one, as the book was supposed to be a satire on a genre of romantic/gothic rural novels that have themselves fallen off the cultural radar. Have you seen that sumptuous Powell and Pressburger film Gone to Earth? That sort of thing. Cold Comfort Farm was so popular that it outlived the genre it satirised and left us with this great story about a mad, dysfunctional family that needs a modern, emancipated 1930s woman with ideas about gentrification to drag it into the right century. With biplanes, French holidays and talking pictures!
Is the stage show just like the novel?
Not quite. Barry (the director) describes the show as an episode of The Archers performed by the Marx Brothers. He’s underselling it – it is far madder than that sounds! The basic narrative is the same as the novel, though if you’ve seen the BBC production from the nineties, the subplot with the Steven Fry role has gone. On the other hand, (Phil’s character) Urk, is almost missing from that version but he’s back with a vengeance in the stage show. The focus is much more on the chaotic, weirdly adorable Starkadder family. There’s a lot of subtle interplay that rewards close attention.
What makes this stage production unique?
The thirties was a time of massive social change, where women had recently won the vote but were still battling the entrenched Victorian attitudes of their time. That, and the fable about how one character’s trauma can enslave their whole family in misery are surprisingly modern. I’m making it sound serious - don’t worry, there’s gurning, physical comedy and a face covered in porridge – I mean that the play is a delirious fantasy where a bit of assertive nudging can magically transform a broken domestic setting. When set up as a farce that involves a woman who keeps chucking herself in a well, it is all so heartfelt at the same time as being gleefully daft, that it works. The plotting is so neat that the final sequence is like completing a Sudoku or a cryptic crossword. It’s also a great show for female actors!
What is your favourite part of the show?
Lucy, who plays Flora is the central character, and her face off with Rosemary who is ferocious as the terrifying Aunt Ada is a tour de force. No spoilers though! It’s a lovely ensemble piece with full commitment from the entire cast.
Why should audiences come to see this show?
Because there’ll be equal parts giggling, gaping in astonishment and laughing out loud. Hopefully from the audience.
And with that, Phil had to break off our brief chat to chase another character round the farm while brandishing a ladle. It really is looking to be a superb show.
Cold Comfort Farm
by Paul Doust, adapted from the novel by Stella Gibbons
Tue 08 - Sat 12 July, 7.45PM & Sat 12 July, 2.30PM
ADC Theatre
Click here to book your tickets!