“It’s a must see for any Dickens fan” – Hard Times at the Lowry Review

Megan Chapman | 10th March 2018

Louisa Gradgrind and Mr Bounderby

Debbie McAndrew’s (An August Bank Holiday, Coronation Street) adaptation of Dicken’s ‘grim up north’ novel Hard Times, for Northern Broadsides theatre company, came to the Lowry with a bang.

The whimsical circus and added humour stopped the play from following Dicken’s sombre plot entirely but was still a great match to the famous novel.

Mr Bounderby, played by Howard Chadwick (A Christmas Carol, Coronation Street), brought some much-needed humour to the stage. Bounderby’s part was very well written, and Chadwick played the character to his entirety, flawlessly jumping between his complex array of emotions.

Mrs Gradgrind and Mr Bounderby

Although I must admit Mrs Sparsit, played by Victoria Brazier (Oliver Twist, Emmerdale), won the award for being the shows funniest character. The character’s utter devotion to Bounderby and want to please him creates a relationship very similar to the ‘evil villain and useless side sidekick’ gimmick which left the audience laughing.

My two favourites were were Louisa Gradgrind, played by Vanessa Schofield (The Borrowers, The Wizard of Oz) and Steven Blackpool, played by Antony Hunt (A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Doctors)

Despite only being involved with the show for a few scenes, Blackpool’s fierce loyalty and honesty created a strong connection to the audience and I genuinely felt a pang of sorrow at what happened to him.

Louisa and young Tom Gradgrind

Louisa just completely stole the show. Vanessa managed to show the internal battle Louisa has between choosing what she wants to do and what she must do. She also portrayed how this gradually eats away at Louisa until her sudden outburst on stage, which made the audience feel for her even more.

The choice Debbie made to stick with the books original time frame really kept the show grounded in its themes and conflicts and made the stakes higher then they would be if it was modernised.

The show was wonderful and most definitely was not as harrowing as I was expecting it to be. The cast is fantastic and it’s a truly human show filled to the brim with emotion, a must-see for any Dickens fan.

To book tickets click here.

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The CircusDebbie McAndrewMrs Sparsit and Bitzer (Darren Kuppan)Louisa and Mr GradgrindDebbie McAndrew (Credit- Nobby Clark)