April 6, 2009
'I do love a good hanging!' cackled cheery Clara Basden (Lynne Smith), in this world premiere of Lies on their Lips written by Joel Kaye and Gwilym Scourfield for the Abingdon Drama Club. They're not a group afraid of intense plays, or a bit of historical research, and this dramatisation brings to life a slice of local history and a cast of real characters who have been dead for nearly 200 years.
The Abingdon Turnpike Murders revolve around the brutal bludgeoning of a well endowed draper on his return from the Michaelmas Fair, right next to the water turnpike and attended by an unclear number of assailants, probably led by unremittingly bad Charles Shury (Adam Blake), horse thief, publican of ill repute and leader astray of his band of neer-do-wells.
It is around this pivotal point that the plot hangs throughout the performance. In the comfortable and intimate setting of the Unicorn Theatre, it is hard to imagine how one would stage a brutal murder, three realistic hangings and arrange for a set that seamlessly shifts between market place, public house and court room. But thanks to some inventive direction by Eileen Bagshaw and efficient prop switching by the cast, this was well pulled of by the Abingdon Drama Club. Silhouettes, soliloquies and song helped to tell the story, explaining the plot and motives while keeping back tantalising details. Alex Codling shone as Anne Gilkes, bringing a particularly human dimension to the grisly tale and its human consequences.
It was interesting to note the popularity of the performance amongst the local population - tickets sold out well in advance, and the audience was clearly enthralled not only by the production, but also the underlying subject matter which evidently still raises the pulse and quickens the senses of the 4th generation since the dastardly deed took place. At one point, during the initial hanging of the ring leader and his rambunctiously course first mate, John Castle (Tristan Kear), the intense murmuring of the crowd on-stage spread into the assembled audience, all exchanging views on whether the men were guilty.
An enthusiastic cast was ably supported by ingenious props (including an excellent inflatable piglet carried by a swine maiden) and ghostly soundtrack. Top marks also to the Morris Dancing troupe who opened and closed the performance.
So who did commit the Murders, and was Giles Covington (John Hawkins) an innocent man hanged brutally by an over-zealous JP (Malcolm Ross) for a crime in which he had no part? An interesting observation of early miscarriages of justice, this dramatisation of local historian Mark Davies' book is all the more poignant for being performed in a building the characters would have known well and by the descendents of those very townsfolk.
The Abingdon Turnpike Murders revolve around the brutal bludgeoning of a well endowed draper on his return from the Michaelmas Fair, right next to the water turnpike and attended by an unclear number of assailants, probably led by unremittingly bad Charles Shury (Adam Blake), horse thief, publican of ill repute and leader astray of his band of neer-do-wells.
It is around this pivotal point that the plot hangs throughout the performance. In the comfortable and intimate setting of the Unicorn Theatre, it is hard to imagine how one would stage a brutal murder, three realistic hangings and arrange for a set that seamlessly shifts between market place, public house and court room. But thanks to some inventive direction by Eileen Bagshaw and efficient prop switching by the cast, this was well pulled of by the Abingdon Drama Club. Silhouettes, soliloquies and song helped to tell the story, explaining the plot and motives while keeping back tantalising details. Alex Codling shone as Anne Gilkes, bringing a particularly human dimension to the grisly tale and its human consequences.
It was interesting to note the popularity of the performance amongst the local population - tickets sold out well in advance, and the audience was clearly enthralled not only by the production, but also the underlying subject matter which evidently still raises the pulse and quickens the senses of the 4th generation since the dastardly deed took place. At one point, during the initial hanging of the ring leader and his rambunctiously course first mate, John Castle (Tristan Kear), the intense murmuring of the crowd on-stage spread into the assembled audience, all exchanging views on whether the men were guilty.
An enthusiastic cast was ably supported by ingenious props (including an excellent inflatable piglet carried by a swine maiden) and ghostly soundtrack. Top marks also to the Morris Dancing troupe who opened and closed the performance.
So who did commit the Murders, and was Giles Covington (John Hawkins) an innocent man hanged brutally by an over-zealous JP (Malcolm Ross) for a crime in which he had no part? An interesting observation of early miscarriages of justice, this dramatisation of local historian Mark Davies' book is all the more poignant for being performed in a building the characters would have known well and by the descendents of those very townsfolk.