'The hamlet stood on a gentle rise in the flat, wheat-growing north-east corner of Oxfordshire, We will call it Lark Rise because of the great number of skylarks which made the surrounding fells their springboard and nested on the bare earth between the rows of green corn. For a few days or a week or a fortnight, the fields stood ripe unto harvest'. It was the one perfect period in the hamlet year. The 1880's brought a succession of hot summers, and day after day, as harvest approached the children of the end house would wake to the dewy pearly pink of a fine summer dawn, and the swizzh, swizzh, of the early morning breeze rustling through the ripe corn beyond their doorstep . . .

Welcome, one and all, to the Fothergill Theatre for this year's Lower School drama production, 'Lark Rise'. The play is adapted from the trilogy of books about life in a hamlet in the nineteenth century which was published as Lark Rise to Candleford' by Flora Thompson in 1945. Through the experiences of Laura and Edmund. we explore the life of a village on one summer's day in 1887. The emphasis in this production is on atmosphere and detail, rather than plot, and the play extols the virtues of the close community ties which are forged by people who have to endure constant hardship in their daily lives. 'Lark Rise' is not a musical, as such, but the action of the play is accompanied by traditional folk music melodies which are given a modern slant through the use of rock band instrumentation.

We hope that you enjoy the show and that the efforts of our cast and crew will transport you back to a vanished world of agricultural customs and rural culture that passed away long ago.

Tony Stroker

Hark says the fair maid

The nightingales are singing

The larks are winging

Their notes up in the air

Small birds and turtle doves

On every bough are building

The sun is just a glimmering

Arise my dear

Please call 01977 611401 for available seats.