Abstract

Adaptation of the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford stories, Laura Turner’s adaptation delightfully brings the rural village to life where etiquette rules, underpinned by a healthy amount of gossip. Applying the ideals of gentility and propriety, the idiosyncratic ways of the women of Cranford are thrown into disarray as modernity encroaches in the form of a new railway line coming harrowingly close. While Cranford’s eclectic women strive to stay immersed in the sweet pleasures and sometimes heart-breaking realities of simple village life, it becomes apparent that the world is changing in the face of the industrial revolution, and that Cranford will have to change with it.

First performed by Chapterhouse Theatre Company, National Tour 2013, directed by Rebecca Gadsby.