Conn Artists seduce their Corn Hall audience
Posted on 9th March 2025
Attempting to adapt a novel as complex and involving as Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd for the stage is certainly ambitious, almost to the point of being foolhardy. It should come as no surprise that the Conn Artist Theatre Company needed close to three hours to distil the essence of Bathsheba Everden’s dalliance with multiple suitors. In less capable hands this could have been a struggle to sit through. On the contrary, a combination of Ross Muir’s crisp dialogue, Nick Young’s taut direction, and a skilled ensemble cast meant that the drama rarely let up, offering up the grand sweep and scale of its source material in a way that was both pacey and absorbing.
Muir not only adapted the book, he was also on stage, as William Boldwood, one of Bathsheba’s suitors. Misled by an ill-advised Valentine’s prank, his obsessional pursuit of her, with Hardy’s typical ambivalence, switches between needy devotion and worrisome predation. Muir’s performance ably captures Boldwood’s slippery character. Is he a villainous opportunist or victim of Bathsheba’s capricious behaviour? Hardy, and by extension, Muir’s text and performance, refuses to offer easy answers. Similarly contrary is the object of his affections, superbly rendered by Abi Casson Thompson, who deftly combines Bathsheba’s ready wit with her poor judgement in a way that is utterly convincing. Portraying a clever, independent woman who nonetheless makes monumentally poor decisions is a tricky juggling act to pull off, yet throughout Thompson retained audience sympathy for her character through her magnetic portrayal. There was sympathy too, and in abundance, for Emily Huxter’s heart breaking Fanny Robins, one of several roles she took on with enough subtle variation to delineate a clear distinction between maid, companion and jilted lover. Joshua Davey breathed life into the stoic Gabriel Oak. Sensible, dependable yet judgemental, Oak might have come across as dull – annoying even – but Davey judged the tone required perfectly. Handsome, exciting and dangerous, the character of Frank Troy is anything but dull and Jaymes Sygrove could so easily have portrayed him as a pantomime villain. Instead, he delivered a troubled, conflicted man that for me, in a crowded field of excellent candidates, was the stand out performance of the evening.
It’s a rare play that can leave newcomers feeling they’ve come close to experiencing the scale of the source work, while those more familiar with Hardy applaud how well the essence of his complex world view has been presented. Judging by the chatter from the audience departing, both were well served by these Conn Artists, a witty yet wholly inappropriate name for this singularly impressive group of talented and authentic performers.