Clwyd Theatr Cymru has seen many Shakespearean triumphs over the years but The Herbal Bed could be the greatest of them all - even though it is not written by the Bard nor does it focus on the celebrated playwright.
Director Emma Lucia has taken Peter Whelan’s acclaimed play about an attempt to ruin the reputation of Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna Hall and turned it into one of the most exhilarating nights at the theatre I have witnessed in 30 years of visiting the Mold venue.
This was, in fact, only the second occasion I can ever remember when I have been so thrilled by a theatrical experience that I desperately wanted to be able to go straight back in and watch the play all over again.
Set in 1613, this is the story of Susanna Hall, the respectable but emotionally neglected wife of the highly thought of Dr John Hall whose single-minded devotion to his medical vocation drives her into the arms of family friend Rafe Smith, an indiscretion that places her at the mercy of the slanderous words of drunken wastrel Jack Lane.
My advice to anyone thinking of going to see The Herbal Bed - and I strongly urge any lover of great theatre to do just that - is to ensure you go in knowing no more than this basic outline of Susanna’s story.
The main reason for this is the play features a courtroom scene so compelling, so unpredictable and so brilliantly staged in this production it will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
I make no apologies for taking the time to single out pretty much every performer in the outstanding cast.
As the two very different villains of the piece, Alex Parry is a rampant scene-stealer as the crude, lewd but dangerous Jack Lane while Llion Williams personifies the puritanical religious pomposity of the time as the fanatical Goche who acts as a terrifying prosecutor in the aforementioned consistory court scene.
Brendan Charleson is the model of respectability as John Hall but while he is often referred to as an ‘icy’ character, the actor makes the most of the one or two occasions when he subtly gets to show that despite his obsession with work, he truly loves his wife.
And Martin Richardson captures perfectly the inner turmoil of Rafe Smith as he battles with his overpowering feelings for Susanna, his guilt at betraying his mentally ill wife, his grief at the loss of two children to illness and his fear of religious damnation if he gives in to his adulterous impulses.
Elin Phillips is a joy as the Halls’ maidservant Hester who begins as a peripheral character but becomes absolutely crucial to the story, ending up as the key witness in the courtroom scene which Phillips handles superbly, completely wrong-footing everyone around her - including the audience!
In the play’s smaller roles, Gwyn Vaughan Jones is a stately figure as the Bishop of Worcester and young Sienna Hayes is a delight as the Halls’ daughter Elizabeth (she played the role on Saturday night when I saw the play but she shares the part with three other youngsters throughout the production’s run).
But while the entire cast make their mark, there are simply not enough superlatives even in Shakespeare’s literary armoury to do justice to the towering performance from Amanda Ryan as Susanna who progresses from being a wordless presence in the opening moments to dominating her every subsequent scene.
Susanna may be the one who yearns for the more expressive but illicit love of another woman’s husband but in Ryan’s hands, the character becomes the sympathetic beating heart of the play whose motivations are not powered by belief, faith, profession or morality but by pure passion.
The actress ensures Susanna’s sheer humanity shines through every moment which is why there is never a time when we are not on her side, hoping and praying - but never being certain - that she will emerge unharmed and with reputation intact.
And while William Shakespeare has a silent but moving role to play in the last scene, it is entirely fitting that it is Ryan as his daughter who delivers a final line so poetic and poignant it is worthy of the Bard himself: “Leave coldness to the stars. Give us life.”
Staged in the magical space that is the Emlyn Williams Theatre - mostly decked out as the Halls’ garden apart from when it is simply but breathtakingly transformed into Worcester Cathedral for the courtroom scene - this production can be seen until March 28 and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It is perhaps worth noting the play may not be suitable for younger theatre-goers as it contains extensive sexual references and one brief scene of female nudity.
