Sarah Giles, a graduate of NIDA director’s program from last year, presented an impressive production of Peter Whelan’s intriguing 1997 play ‘The Herbal Bed’ at the New Theatre in Newtown.
Whelan’s play is based on a 1613 court case where Shakespeare’s eldest daughter, Susannah Hall took one of her husband’s apprentices, Jack Lane, to court, accusing him of defaming her, after he had accused her of having an extra-marital affair with Rafe Smith, a local haberdasher. The stakes were high for Susannah. It wasn’t just the case of saving her reputation. At this time in England’s history, the death penalty could be given to women found guilty of adultery.
Giles’s production was true to the unsafe, dark world that Whelan depicts. The play starts with audiences viewing a mainly bare stage, apart from white lines depicting the imagined herbal garden, with the actors lined around the periphery whispering loudly, almost to the point of chanting, creating an eerie effect.
During the course of the play, we are invited to look at the reaction of actors, sitting in chairs at the side of the stage, as they looked on at the action.
Renee Mulder’s costume design had the characters wearing tight fitting, pristine and prim clothing. Brent Hill’s intermittent soundscape added to the tension. The world of ‘The Herbal Bed’ was a world of innuendo and and paranoia.
The production featured some fine performances stemming from Whelan’s conflicted characters. Rick Cosnett stood out as the accuser, Jack Lane, whose journey saw him go from being a confident young man to a pitiful drunk. Also impressive were Jamie Irvine as the out of his comfort zone seducer, Rafe Smith, and Gemma-Yates-Round as the maid Hester who is pressured by Susannah into compromising herself.
Sarah Giles’s evocative production of ‘The Herbal Bed’ plays the New Theatre, Newtown until the 11th April.
