The Hired Man continues at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch until 18 May 2019, before transferring to the Hull Truck Theatre (23 May to 15 June) and the Oldham Coliseum Theatre (20 June to 6 July).
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cumbria, an old regional name for that part of North West England which includes the Highland Heart of the Lake District, is an area that is known for farmers. In fact most people who have lived in Cumbria over the last 7,000 years have been farmers, despite the poor quality of the land. But less well known outside Cumbria is the history of mining in the area; Celtic tribes dug for coal, copper, lead, zinc, iron and silver deposits, with mines that often ran far out under the sea.
The Hired Man brings us a glimpse of this lifestyle in a show written by Melvyn Bragg with music and lyrics by Howard Goodall. Fortunately, the musical avoids the high concept, lavish sets and big solo numbers of the Lloyd Webber world and at the heart keeps a coral tradition in songs that wouldn’t be out of place sung in a pub on a Friday night.
The show continues the tradition at the Queen’s Theatre of employing a cast of actor-musicians with the instruments often used as props; indeed you have never lived until you have seen a violin used as a spade or a cello being stroked as if it’s a dog!
Oliver Hembrough, who plays working man John, gives a heartbreaking performance, a highlight being his rendition of ‘What Would You Say To Your Son?’, a song about letting a child make up his or her own mind, a situation that all parents can relate to. James William-Pattison, portraying John’s son, does a great job of playing a character that your heart just yearns for.
Bragg’s amazing writing really helps audience members engage with these characters, meaning that they weep during their tragedies, laugh at their jokes and even join in with their songs. Thanks to this openness, and the subtlety of director Douglas Rintoul’s staging, it’s as if we are being welcomed into their lives, almost as if we could walk up onto the stage and buy them a drink.
Described by Goodall as “a serious musical about ordinary people… who are poor and whose lives have real ups and downs”, The Hired Man is a milestone in British musical theatre. If you go and see one show this year, I would highly recommend this one. It’s a West End standard production of an unconventional musical right on our doorstep.
Andy Wilkin
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