The Storytellers Company's highly-individual approach to putting classic novels on stage has rarely been better deployed than in their current adaptation of Hard Times by Charles Dickens.
The book is probably not the most widely-read of the author's works but it must surely be one of his best. It has a rich, engrossing story with a social conscience and an array of convincing characters representative of a broad spectrum of humanity. Issues such as education, the tyranny of class, greed versus conscience, love and cynicism abound. They have not gone away.
And so Gradgrind educates his children and pupils in the ways of pragmatism, and lives to regret it. Bounderby, the self-made tyrant, destroys others as fodder for his self-congratulation. Stephen Blackpool, a decent worker in a ruinous marriage, contains his love for Rachel, his staunch friend. The caddish Harthouse seeks to seduce Louisa, youthful wife of Bounderby. These and other strands are seamlessly interwoven.
Seven actors undertake a myriad of roles to bring the drama to absorbing life, all with individual and ensemble distinction. Kevin Quinn, Gertrude Montgomery, Ciaran McIntyre, Deirdre Monaghan, Alan Devine, Stella Madden and Sarah-Jane Drummey carry their roles - and the shared narration which binds them together - with ease and empathy. There is the sense, at the end, of that complete experience on which theatre still holds the copyright.
Liam Halligan's direction is sensitive and detailed and Blaithin Sheerin's simple set design is brilliantly versatile and accommodating. This is Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy's second shot at getting the novel on stage; and this time, by Jove she's got it.
Runs at the Tivoli Theatre until September 26th. Then tours to the Cork Opera House; the Town Hall Theatre, Galway; Hawk's Well, Sligo; the Backstage, Longford; the Riverside, Coleraine; and the Belltable, Limerick