I had read some reviews of this play and came prepared not to sit in the front row where towels were provided. The entire stage area, save for a small island in the middle was a pool of about 10cm of water. Why? Because the setting was an era of unremitting rain - not unlike that endured in the West country; but more so. The rain set farmer against farmer because cattle feed was becoming scarce and expensive. The main characters - a farmer and his wife - were saddled with debt incurred by his, now dead, father and being chased to repay it.
The play cleverly wove flashbacks with the here and now as we witnessed the result of the situation in which they found themselves. It was to my mind an engaging play, extremely well acted and convincingly conveying the sense of powerlessness and depression of living with this apparently ceaseless environmental negativity. Whether intentional or not, one could easily extend this to any unremittingly hostile environment, making it, I imagine, a suitable play in some eyes for election night!
The only issue was the production and whether it was an asset to have the gigantic pool through which the characters had to wade, splashing the audience as they went by. Quite easily, this could have turned to unintentional farce and in any event it was a distraction. Nonetheless, overall a very worthwhile evening - unarguably so for a mere fiver!
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