UK Theatre Network

All Creatures Great & Small

The Gala Theatre, Durham

For the first time ever, so the Gala Theatre marketing material proclaims, the ‘tender and heart-warming tales’ written by Sunderland-born Alf Wight, who is undoubtedly better-known by the pseudonym James Herriot, have been ‘brought to the stage in a major new dramatisation that will be one of the theatrical highlights of 2010’. Talk about setting yourself a tall order!

The challenging task of adapting and directing the piece has been taken up by Simon Stallworthy who, since joining the Gala in 2005, has directed all of the Gala’s in-house productions. To be fair, it is not an easy undertaking: how do you represent the dales and moors, farmhouses and public houses of Darrowby and the surgery of the Farnon veterinary practice all on one stage? Well, Sarah Oxley is to be congratulated for having designed a set that is visually impressive and which works fairly practically, too.

That said, the production is let down by several other factors. Obviously, it is impossible to have real livestock on stage so cattle are represented only by sound effects, whereas stuffed toys are used in place of domestic animals. The lack of any presence of living creatures, whether they be ‘great or small’ does tend to hinder any attempts to suspend disbelief.

Furthermore, sloppy continuity errors (such as when Tristan has lost the payment receipt book, despite the fact that it sits, quite obviously, on the table in front of him) tend to niggle at the back of one’s mind.

This production is an adaptation of All Creatures Great & Small, the classic television series, which in turn was an adaptation of Herriot’s first two novels, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen To A Vet. So, essentially, it is an adaptation of an adaptation and, as such, the quality has been diluted. The production feels achingly formulaic as it chronicles both Herriot’s professional journey, from being a newly qualified outsider to a trusted and respected vet, and his romantic encounters, through his awkward courtship of Helen Alderson up to their eventual marriage. It is hampered further by a pace that is slow rather than gentle.

On the positive side, there are some good characterisations from the cast, which includes Ben Ingles as James Herriot, Henry Everett as Siegfried Farnon, Jack Wharrier as Tristan Farnon and Samantha Phyllis Morris as Helen Alderson. However, the characters are so synonymous with Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy, Peter Davison and Carol Drinkwater/Lynda Bellingham, respectively, that the stage cast never totally convince in the roles.

Unfortunately, my diagnosis of this ailing production is that it would be kinder to put it out of its misery.

Steve Burbridge.

Runs until Saturday 16 October 2010