Light Shining in Buckinghamshire

‘Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ is a tale of the English Civil War that was written by postmodernist playwright, Caryl Churchill. Published in 1978, this ambitious production is being presented at the Garrick Theatre, 16 Meadow Street, Guildford. The production runs until Saturday 5^th May. The two and three-quarter hour play commences at 8.00 pm.

Caryl Churchill was born in 1938 in London, the daughter of a model and a political cartoonist. At the age of ten her family emigrated to Montreal, a decade later she returned to England to attend an all women’s college at Oxford University, graduating with an English Literature degree. Her first play was produced in 1958 by a student drama group.

In 1961Caryl married barrister David Harter, and moved to Islington. Despite having three sons to raise, she began to write short dramas for the BBC, many were later adapted for stage. Churchill has strong Socialist views that are very apparent in her plays. Employing Brecht's modernist dramatic style, she wrote ‘Objections to Sex and Violence’, and then produced this with the help of David Hare and the feminist theatrical union, Monstrous Regiment. After ‘Cloud Nine’ won the 1982 best play of the year, Caryl’s writing became increasingly unconventional.

This play is based around the 1648 tract ‘Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ and the 1649 treatise ‘More Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’.

           The stage lights come on to reveal a stark stage, with only a large flat covering the rear wall. It shows an ink drawing on parchment, depicting the events that are to follow (design Rob Whitehead). At the front of the stage is a line of medieval peasants who are singing a harmonious madrigal, and in a few verses, they explain the aims of their group.

          The era is the 1640s and the lower classes, along with the destitute folk in the south of England, are tired of being slaves to the rich. The wealthy classes in their eyes cannot go to Heaven, and are therefore the sinners. A local preacher (John Lobb) consolidates this idea in their minds by his acerbic sermon.

         When a beggar from another village tries to beg in their town, as did Margaret Brotherton (Jessica Hewitson - the despair was well expressed), then the local shire officials – who are supposed to be enforcing the wish of the people – deliver horrendous punishments to the transgressors.

        For the next ten years England challenged by these radical, though well-intentioned, extremists. Groups of peasants gathered together to level the playing field – the Levellers – by slowly acquiring goods from the rich gentry. This they did, totally without fear, ‘after all God was happy to see the goods being shared out’, and indeed he would come again in the very near future to join their New Model Army and help attain an egalitarian state. The New Jerusalem was not far away in their minds.

        One woman (Ellen Jurik – beautiful singer and strong performance) gained a mirror, and told her friend of the magnificent full-length mirror in the manor house that allowed you to see your whole body at the same time. The Levellers group together and have a meeting with Oliver Cromwell (Mickeal Davis) and General Ireton (Rodney van Groningen – a good solid performance). At these talks, known as the Putney Debates, the two generals appear very happy to help the underprivileged, but in their minds it would be unnecessary to allow one vote for everybody – especially for the pitiable and penniless. Also they considered that there wouldn’t be a lot of sense in allowing the poor to have valuable goods or land; they wouldn’t know what to do with them.

      This period of time saw the weather being particularly punishing and the crops failed. The peasants’ gathering decided to move nearer to the power brokers, to establish an agrarian (home garden) community on the public land known as St George's Hill. They became known as the Diggers. The vegetable and fruit production was low and the meat supply even worse. The poor still could not afford to buy the food. One of the Diggers (David Kerr - most powerful and dramatic) refused to sell their wares to the rich, despite being desperate for the funds.

      As times became harder, the Diggers turned into the Ranters, as they ranted their demands.

     Will the peasants win in the end? How will the spoils be shared?

Caryl Churchill’s plays tend to be a little dry, but they always have a strong social message. This play is particularly thorny and like her others is a difficult play to present in an interesting way. However, director Rob Whitehead has accepted the challenge, got a generally strong team together and produced a fast-paced, fascinating story. There were one or two slightly weak points in the production, but generally he has to be admired for having the courage by taking on such a challenge. The actors seemed dedicated and the pace was good.

The actors carried out all of the minor scene changes between the two-dozen brief vignettes.

The story was not one that I had heard before and although the tale is 400 years old, it could have been written yesterday, as the circumstances over the centuries have swayed a little but always returned to the inevitable social imbalance in wealth and freedom.

The lighting (Don Allen) was extremely good, with various masks, filters and gels being used to create the surroundings and atmosphere. The costumes and props were by The Hewitsons, and were well researched for their style and colour.

A very difficult play to put on, but presented with strong direction and a dedicated team of actors. The story is captivating and accessible in its presentation. I wasn’t looking forward to this unusual topic, but was glad that I saw it. Great team work, a difficult challenge conquered.