News Story
Lark Rise to Candleford
6 Feb - 14 Mar
Director Bryn Holding and writer and composer Tamsin Kennard talk to us about the upcoming production of Lark Rise to Candleford.
Can you tell the Watermill audience a bit about yourselves?
Bryn: I’m a freelance theatre director and co-Artistic Director of Hammerpuzzle Theatre Company. I have been Associate Director of Hammerpuzzle since 2016 and became co-Artistic Director in 2023. After a career as an actor, I trained as a director at the New Vic Theatre (2015-2017). I have worked on a number of literary adaptations, I love words, ensemble storytelling and making work that is plugged into the heart. I’m overjoyed to be bringing this new version of Lark Rise to Candleford to the Watermill.
Tamsin: I’ve been involved with Hammerpuzzle since its conception in 2007 and took over as Artistic Director in 2012. Over that time, we’ve developed the way in which we can use storytelling, ensemble theatre to tell a really accessible story that’s also plugged into the heart. We adapt and reinvent from various stimuli: literary, artistic, historical. Our work is all about breaking something apart, finding out what’s at the heart of that story, and puzzling it back together in a new way - that’s where the name Hammerpuzzle comes from. I’ve been lucky enough to write and compose for the company over those fifteen years. I love stories, writing, reading - I’m also an audiobook narrator!
What made you want to adapt Lark Rise to Candleford for the stage? Where did that idea come from?
Tamsin: : I was interested in the original book and breathing new life into it. We know that Flora Thompson took some artistic license with the fictionalising of her own life, so it felt like there was some freedom to re-tell that story in a re-imagined way - I hope she would give us her blessing to do so! It feels to me that Lark Rise to Candleford covers a very broad spectrum of a time, a community and a way of life but within that is the very personal story of Laura. I really wanted to tease out that personal story from the wider community backdrop so that Laura is at the heart of it.
Bryn: It’s a well-known title, brought back into our consciousness by the BBC version, which I’m sure will be a touchstone for audiences. It’s a blend between memoir and novel and Tamsin manages to strike that balance beautifully in this new adaptation - plucking out the emotional thread and human story amid the pastoral nostalgia. We love working on a literary classic; we’ve done a lot of Thomas Hardy. It felt like Lark Rise deserved reviving and reworking. Flora Thompson is a female writer from rural humble beginnings - we all know of Jane Austen, many of us adore the Brontës - but maybe Flora hasn’t had enough visibility or credit.
What do you hope audiences take from Lark Rise to Candleford?
Tamsin: I hope it can open a door for people to reflect on their own life, their own memories and the things that are dear to them that can get lost in the complications of modern life. At the end, that’s what really matters and what you take with you (or leave behind) when this earthly story is done.
Bryn: I feel like the piece quietly works on you as an audience member. I hope that people see something of themselves in Laura’s story. It is a play about those who Laura loves and has lost. I hope each audience member will take a moment to reflect on their life - on what’s gone before and what’s to come - and to maybe hold onto those they love a little tighter, having witnessed Laura’s story.
Is there a character you most relate to?
Tamsin: I can recognise elements of Laura’s struggle. That feeling of ‘who am I, what am I doing, what is life?’. There are elements of that for all of the characters. At one point in the story, Laura has a bit of an epiphany: ‘Why am I wasting time worrying about things that don’t matter, when life, the universe and everything is so much bigger than that?’ That universal feeling is something I can definitely connect to.
Bryn: There’s a really strong feminine voice to the play, one that I feel privileged to be a part of, without feeling in any way that it’s mine. I don’t really see myself in Laura’s father or her brother Edmund, so Godfrey Parish, maybe - he’s from the Midlands, like me, and there’s a quirkiness and openness about him that I like. If I could be anyone, I’d like to be him.
What are you most excited for in this production?
Tamsin: I’m excited for it all to be happening! It’s really exciting for Hammerpuzzle’s work to have a bigger platform, and I can’t wait to hear the music live with actor-musicians. I’m excited to discover it again, and see what that does for Laura’s story.
Bryn: I’m really excited to come and live at the Watermill for a bit! To work at the Watermill feels like a theatrical right of passage! I’m excited that the show then heads up to Theatre by the Lake in Keswick - somehow we’ve managed to land a tour with two of the most beautiful theatres in the land. Though, I’m most excited for the play to meet its audience - moments reach out from the page and hopefully touch people or resonate with them in some way, so I’m excited to witness that night after night.
Lark Rise to Candleford
6 Feb - 14 Mar
