THE NEW HARDY PLAYERS
The New Hardy Players have been performing indoor and outdoor adaptations of Thomas Hardy’s novels in and around the Dorchester area since 2005. This year the Players are embarking on their most ambitious project so far- a revival of the 1934 play Six Men of Dorset [ The Tolpuddle Play] by Miles Malleson and Harry Brooks. This is one of Dorset’s most important stories which will be brought to life and celebrated with a cast of 40 and will feature live music and song. Additional performers will take part in scenes from the story that will be filmed in and around Dorchester and shown as part of the performance building on the success of The Mayor of Casterbridge where film played an integral part of the storytelling.
The play will be performed in partnership with Dorchester Arts and The Shire Hall Museum. The first half of the play takes place in the Corn Exchange. The script used is by kind permission of the TUC and was originally performed in the Corn exchange in 1934. During the interval the audience move to The Shire Hall to watch the second half [ including the famous Trial Scene] in the Historic Courtroom where the original trial took place. The audience will be limited to 130 per performance. Audience are advised that cushions may be needed for the Shire Hall and the production will incur a longer than usual interval.
The play will be performed 3 times, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September at 7.30pm plus a matinee performance on Sunday at 2.30pm
Tickets are obtained via Dorchester Arts www.dorchesterarts.org.uk
Synopsis
In 1834, against a backdrop of extreme rural poverty and national turmoil, six lowly men of Dorset found themselves facing the full wrath and power of the British establishment. Commissioned by the TUC 100 years after their arrest, this production of Six Men of Dorset (The Tolpuddle Play) takes it back to it’s roots fully immersing the audience in the atmosphere of these historical buildings where events took place. The play reaches its climax in the very courtoom where the Martyrs met their fate.
WHAT THE PLAY WILL ACHIEVE
We aim to bring to life a lost piece of Dorchester and Dorset’s theatrical and social history by performing The Tolpuddle play in Dorchester for the first time in 90 years.
The New Hardy Players are uniquely placed to achieve this. We will use the expertise that we have developed over the last 19 years of working on adaptations of Thomas Hardy’s novels to tell the celebrated story of the six farm labourers from Tolpuddle who attempted to form a union to better their wages, only to be transported to Australia for their pains. We anticipate that our performances will engender widespread publicity and comment and will spread the message of social justice inherent in the story.
The New Hardy Players live in Dorchester and the surrounding villages and are very much a part of the Dorchester community.
We make our plays by involving local members of the community in all aspects of theatre-making, including costume, set design, prop making, music, song and dance, marketing and fund-raising. We give performances in indoor and outdoor venues and support local businesses through advertising in our programme and publicity. In addition, every year we support local charities; The New Hardy Players are a non profit organisation and all proceeds following production costs are donated to various charities. To date the New Hardy Players have given nearly £100,000 to Julia’s House, Weldmar Hospicecare and Dorchester Poverty Action.
THE PLAY
The original production of Six Men of Dorset [ the Tolpuddle Play] was performed in the Corn Exchange as a key part of 1934 Centenary Commemorations that also included the opening of six new cottages, each one named after one of the Tolpuddle men, and a full programme of pageants, sports meetings and rallies in Maumbury Rings and the old Dorchester Football club. The actors were all members of local trades unions from Dorchester and Poole and called themselves the Tolpuddle Centenary Players. The New Hardy Players are delighted to have the support of Unite for this production.
THE HARDY PLAYERS
In Thomas Hardy’s lifetime a group of Dorchester townsfolk got together to devise and perform the first dramatic productions of Hardy’s novels. From 1908 until 1914, and again after the First World War until 1922, the Players became famous [ largely due to Thomas Hardy’s own international reputation!], and the Hardy Plays drew audiences to Dorchester from all over the country.
In the 1922 production of ‘Tess of the d’Urbevilles’, a young girl named Norrie Bugler played one of the milkmaids. When Norrie was 100, she asked for the Players to be revived. The New Hardy Players is that group, and Norrie actually appeared in some of our early performances.
THE PLAYERS TODAY
The New Hardy Players are a community theatre group. We tell the stories of Thomas Hardy and Dorset, and we celebrate local culture, music and song, and the Dorset dialect. Anyone is welcome to join the New Hardy Players. We have strong links with Dorchester Drama, The Dorchester Community Plays Association, the Ridgeway Singers and Band, Keep 106 Community radio, The Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust, The National Trust at Max Gate and Hardy’s Cottage, and the Thomas Hardy and William Barnes Societies. The Players are often to be seen at local heritage events in and around Dorchester.
THE DIRECTORS
TIM LAYCOCK is the current artistic director of the New Hardy Players. He has worked as a professional musician and actor at the National Theatre, The RSC, Chichester Festival Theatre, the BSO and many other national institutions. Tim lives and works in Dorset, and has a deep interest in the literature, music and stories of the county. He has performed many times for Artsreach and co-founded the Ridgeway Singers and Band with Phil Humphries. Tim is also a vice-president of the William Barnes Society.
EMMA HILL is a founder member of the New Hardy Players. She has played most of the lead characters in Hardy’s novels, including Tess in ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’, Marty South and Mrs Charmond in ‘The Woodlanders’, and Mrs Yeobright in ‘The Return of the Native’. Emma and Tim have co-directed many performances for the New Hardy Players, including ‘The Woodlanders’, ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’ and ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’. Emma and Tim formed their own production company in 2019. Emma runs a business in Dorchester and is passionate about celebrating Dorset and Dorchesters heritage. Emma is also a trustee for The Dorchester Community Plays Association.
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