Details

The repressed desire of beautiful Louisa, trapped in a loveless marriage to Bounderby, a powerful mill-owner, is awakened by the handsome seducer James Harthouse. Thomas Gradgrind, her father, is forced to see love and imagination triumph over hid blind faith in "facts, facts, facts!". Imagine a world where imagination is forbidden. Coketown is such a place. Thomas Gradgrind will not permit fanciful thoughts in his school or his home. But what effect will this policy have on his own children, Tom and Louisa? How can he protect them from corrupting influences - especially when the circus comes to town? Dark satanic mills, interrupted by the colour and vibrancy of Sleary's Circus, set the stage for a sweeping tale of supressed love, seduction and social mores, peopled with the sharply observed exaggerated characters that Dickens is celebrated for. Conrad Nelson directs Deborah McAndrew's witty adaptation of Charles Dickens' great Northern novel to bring you a joyful juggling and tumbling through this touching and often hilarious tale of repression and longing.

Cast/Performers

Suzanne Ahmet (Sissy Jupe), Paul Barnhill (Mr Sleary), Victoria Brazier (Rachael), Howard Chadwick (Bounderby), Anthony Hunt (Steven Blackpool), Darren Kuppan (Mr Harthouse), Perry Moore (Tom Gradgrind), Andrew Price (Thomas Gradgrind), Vanessa Schofield (Louisa Gradgrind), Claire Storey (Mrs Peglar)

Creatives/Company

Book by: Charles Dickens
Company: Northern Broadsides
Adapted by: Deborah McAndrew
Director: Conrad Nelson
Design: Dawn Allsopp
Lighting: Mark Howland