Stage: Garden Of Dubious Delights

Peter Whelan’s The Herbal Bed is New Venture’s June production

“You must not presume to think you know the extent of the dark kingdom, Mistress Hall, or the furthest reach of Satan’s grasp. Even here in the shadows of this holy place he can stand breathing at our shoulder.”

Based on actual events which occurred in Stratford upon Avon in the summer of 1613 and written by Whelan in 1966 (author of Great War morality in The Accrington Pals), this play looks at universal themes of love, marriage, loyalty, independence and social class. Whilst set in Elizabethan England it is written in accessible modern language for a modern audience.

It is difficult to imagine the world-view of people in the early seventeenth century. The separation between social classes was rigidly enforced and the moral rule of the Church was absolute – partly out of feudal deference, but also because of an absolute belief in an afterlife and the possibility of eternal damnation. Peter Whelan takes his audience close to understanding this in The Herbal Bed.

Set in Stratford upon Avon in the summer of 1613, Susanna, William Shakespeare’s eldest daughter, is accused of adultery with family friend and neighbour Rafe Smith. Her husband, respected physician John Hall, is desperate to clear the family name and pushes her to sue for slander. But how can they avoid the fact that one summer’s night while her husband was away, Rafe Smith was seen secretly leaving their herbal garden?

This is a serious charge, and three people’s private lives are subject to the glare of intense public scrutiny in this tale of passion, loyalty, independence and religion. The case ends up before an Ecclesiastical Court, where the family’s souls, as well as their moral reputations, are in danger.

The action takes place mainly in the ’physic’ garden where many medicinal herbs were grown, and in the doctor’s dispensary adjoining the family house. Director Tamsin Fraser is staging the piece in New Venture’s Studio space, which will place the audience very close to the action. She aims to create a period feel for the piece, but to ‘sketch in’ locations rather than have over-elaborate, realistic sets which might get in the way of the gripping dialogue of this unforgettable drama.
The Herbal Bed, New Venture Theatre, 20-28 June 2014, 7.45pm (No Monday eve).
Matinee: Sun 22 June at 2.30pm.

Tickets for the show are available – £9 (Final Fri/Sat £10) First Fri & Tues all tickets £7 and can be purchased online at www.newventure.org.uk for further details phone Box Office Information on 01273 746118

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