Many will be familiar with the story of ‘Tom Jones’ through the Oscar-winning 1963 film, starring the late, great Albert Finney and of course the original 1749 novel is one of the acknowledged classics of English literature. Set against a turbulent backdrop of insurrection in Scotland and on-going wars on the continent, Tom Jones’ story is a vibrant romp from alehouses and bed chambers to society balls and even the gallows as a wayward youth seeks to make a name for himself in a society ridden with class differences, privileged upper classes and a downtrodden peasantry.
Red Dragonfly Productions was created as a Chinese theatre, undertaking a national tour in 2014-15 of ‘The Autumn of Han’, based on an ancient story and went on to produce other works retelling old Chinese classic. Part of Bi’an, the Chinese English Writers network, some members of this company appeared earlier this year in the national tour of ‘From Shore To Shore’, telling three stories across three generations, starting in the days of the Last Emperor and exploring how different Chinese people eventually emigrated to England, with a look at Anglo-Chinese culture from various angles, not dissimilar in some ways to the book ‘Wild Swans’. Having established a strong base in presenting Chinese culture and heritage to English audiences, it was interesting to now see Red Dragonfly Productions turn to a quintessentially classic English piece for adaptation.
Red Dragonfly Productions have come a long way since their inception and whilst it is still rooted as a Chinese theatre company, there is now a mix of both Chinese and English heritage members, effectively an embodiment of the blending of the Chinese into England, as was so well shown in ‘From Shore To Shore’; in a way, life imitating art. Accordingly, there has been no attempt to re-invent the wheel with ‘Tom Jones’. This was not an English classic with an oriental makeover but a faithful dramatic representation of the original novel, complete with a very impressive array of stunning period costumes, contemporary harpsicord music and backdrop staging designed to give an echo of an 18th century English mansion. All the mannerisms, modes of speaking and turn of phrase were again faithful to the period and the fact that five of the eight strong cast were of oriental heritages was of no importance, which was surely how it was meant to be.
The cast did a sterling job in playing a wide range of roles, involving complete costume changes. This was not the kind of basic production where actors play various roles with simple representations such as changes of hats or wigs to denote different characters and the overall effect was as if there had been a much larger cast than there was, representing a vivid cross section of British society at the time. There was also considerable attention to detail, from society ladies constantly fanning themselves right down to effected modes of speaking, reminiscent of the world of Jane Austen. The actors showed considerable versatility in creating various characterisations and the audience certainly appreciated their efforts, giving generous applause at the end.
With so many plays in festivals often drawing attention to social minority issues or attempting to raise the profile of different ethic cultures, there was something very refreshing about the approach of Red Dragonfly Productions which was to simply add some English actors to their company and present a straight-forward English classic. What could be a better way of demonstrating complete integration whilst still retaining something of your ethnic heritage? Red Dragonfly Productions are certainly a company to watch and we could do with more companies like them.
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 7/7/19
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