"The Roses Of Eyam" by Don Taylor.

Nods Theatre Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

It's been a long time since my last show by Nods Theatre Company, seven years in fact when I attended "Brassed Off", and what a show to reconnect with Nods by in "The Roses Of Eyam", something very different to "Brassed Off".

Don Taylor’s 1970 play, "The Roses of Eyam" is the story of the selflessness expressed by the inhabitants of the small Derbyshire village of Eyam during the Great Plague of 1665/66.

 In the play Thomas Stanley, former Rector of Eyam, finds himself out of work and at political and religious odds with his replacement, William Mompesson. It is the antagonism between Mompesson and Stanley that initially ignites Taylor’s play before further ignition is caused by the arrival of the deadly Bubonic virus. 

The Bubonic Plague virus lay dormant in a bundle of second-hand clothing purchased in London by George Vicars, the village tailor, in the early summer of 1665. When the clothes arrive in Eyam, they are damp and, as a consequence, are hung to dry in front of the shop fire, awakening the larvae of the "Rodent Flea", a flea that quickly latched on to the humans they came into contact with, quickly transferring, by biting, the deadly bacteria to their human hosts who, in the 17th century, had little or no immunity to the bacteria.

With frightening rapidity the virus ravished the community, killing off great chunks of the community on a daily basis, the members of the village often having to bury their own family, and Mompesson having to act as a doctor as well as a man of the cloth. It was however the speed of this plague that drew the former and current clergymen together to help the village get through this year long season of death. 

Between them they decided that the only way to beat this, without spreading the plague to other parts of the country was to build a stone wall around the village and for the residents to stay within the wall, and allow no outsiders in. Food from outside was to be left on the stone wall and everyone should stay in their own houses and not to mix. Initially this was not a decision that sat well with the residents of Eyam, as some wanted to flee the village of death, but they were talked round and made to see sense that the Plague would be transmitted outside the community if they decided to leave.

It's a true story and with it being in Derbyshire, the full horror is played out with great intensity and that feeling of fear completely encompassed the Duchess Theatre audience on Thursday night. It's not a piece of history that I was aware of, even though I had heard of the Village of Eyam, but they didn't teach you stuff like this in my history lessons when I was at school.

You also don't realise how frightening this story is until the comparisons of that virus and the Covid 19 situation we all lived through only six years ago is brought to mind.

This is a fantastic cast who have done an incredible job of making everyone feel the unease and fear within the situation the Eyam people found themselves in, and have taken the words of Taylor's play and brought the sadness and horror to life on stage, right in front of your eyes.

Reverand William Mompesson is played by Richard Whitehorn who draws out every emotion from this character's being. there are some lengthy speeches and deliveries from Mompesson and they are all delivered with such feeling and emotion. The helplessness at being unable to help more and then the disbelief that his God could take his wife from him after everything that he had done within the village is a truly heartbreaking scene. I have seen Richard a couple of times on stage over the years but this, for me personally, is the pinnacle to date of Richard's roles. I can never remember if Nods are included in the Eagle Awards but if they are, and they should be, this performance is worthy of an award.

Catherine Mompesson, his wife, who supports him during the crisis, is played by Louise Wiseman. A beautifully sympathetic role, full of support for the work Mompesson is doing within the village, who at first do not take to change easily. Because of that support and love for her husband, when Catherine succumbs to the disease, you, as an audience member feel a sense of loss for such a lovely character.

Thomas Stanley, the former rector who was deposed but remains a prominent influence in the village, is played by David Dunford, and actor I have seen a few times on stage. He makes you feel the hurt and rejection, in a way, of his former role as Rector, but you also understand why he does not want to initially help the new Rector. That also leads on to understanding what an upheaval of his emotions it must have been to then become allies with Mompesson in order to help the village that he has faithfully headed up. A lovely controlled and measured performance from an actor who always delivers a believable performance, whatever the role.

George Vicars, played by Andrew Brown, is the tailor who is the first to die from the plague after receiving a box of clothes. Andrew also plays William Hancock after the demise of the tailor.

The Bedlam is an orphan boy who is depicted as the Village idiot. Played by Pat McHugh, this character brings much of the comedy aspects into the play, completely oblivious of the seriousness of the situation that has landed in Eyam.

Marshall Howe is the gravedigger in the village and is played by Owen Anthony. Howe also brings some of the more lighter moments to the play, but it's also the very human side of the character, especially towards the end of the play where you can see the stress of burying so many of the villagers at such a pace that hits home.

Unwin and Merrill are two cantankerous villagers who reminded me a bit of "The Old Gits" from Harry Enfield's TV show. Completely lovable and comical, but with just that tinge of sadness to keep the reality of what they have been through and are going through with this latest period in life.

Brian Meese plays Edward Unwin, and there's a lovely scene which completely encapsulates his character and the mischievous side of Unwin when he appears to have been stricken down by the Plague, having been found on his kitchen floor unconscious, supposedly dead. It also reminded me of that classic scene from "Spamalot" in the "I'm not dead yet" scene. Lovely fun character played with great humour and energy by Brian.

Andrew Merrill is played by Jonathan Wolff, and a brilliant foil to Brian's Unwin. Together these two are wonderful to watch, almost like a Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets pairing. They come across as rivals but you can tell there's a lot of history and possibly fun times had by these two over their 79/80 years lifetime. A lovely casting decision.

The rest of the cast are as follows.....

Timothy Fryzer-Smith (Saville and Edward Thornley), Jenny Nelson (Sarah Syddall, Frances Frith, Mary Frith and Mary Thornley), Alan Hough (Richard Syddall and William Hancock), Alistair Ruddle (Rowland Torre and Edward Cooper), Victoria Herbert (Emmott Sydall and Thomas Torre), Sharon Rutland (Mrs Syddall and Elizabeth Frith), Ian McHugh (Colonel Bradshaw, George Mower and Isaac Thornley), Jenny Ruddle (Mrs Bradshaw, The Carter, Frances Torre, Mr Cooper and Lydia Chapman), Heather Berry (Mary Cooper) and Hazel Whaley (Elizabeth Thornley and Elizabeth Swann). A truly superb cast.

Directed by Elaine Sellors who has really brought out some incredibly emotional acting from her cast and has delivered a piece of theatre that will keep you hypnotised by this real-life piece of history.

Set Design is  simple but very effective with a backdrop projection and several props which just seem to appear at times, or that could be due to me being so engrossed in the acting that I never noticed anything other than the actors I was focusing on,  an obvious tribute to the stage management by David Bloodworth. The large Eyam Cross almost dominated the set design, always reminding us of the faith and religion that ran through the story.

The costumes were excellent and helped you pitch yourself right in the middle of the era that the play was set in, 1665/1666. 

Sound, Lighting and the Projection I mentioned earlier are all the work of Philip Rutland and Ray Harrison. The projection moved the story and the setting on smoothly and also gave us some lovely images of the surrounding Derbyshire countryside, as well as showing what the living spaces were like back in the 1600s. The lighting switched to suit the mood of that particular timeline of the play and with no mic pacs in sight, it was up to the individual actors to make sure that their projection was enough to reach the very back of the theatre.

There was not one of these actors who failed to be heard in the auditorium and the whole play was like watching something from The National Theatre, a masterclass in professionalism and presentation all round.

There's just one other person that I should mention, and I very rarely mention these roles because there should be no need to mention them, and that is the prompt, who in this production was only needed once, Sue Leahy. This is such a wordy play and at almost three hours long - including interval - I was very much surprised that only one prompt was needed, which also shows the amount of work that has been put into such a lengthy piece of theatre by the individuals, especially the main characters.

If only my history lessons when I was at school were as entertaining and educational as this play.

"The Roses Of Eyam" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 25 April.