Ronald Blythe's AKENFIELD Revived In Local Staging

Fifty years after Sir Peter Hall turned Ronald Blythe's best-known work Akenfield into a film, his daughter Jenny Hall will be directing the landmark work on rural Suffolk as a stage production, adapted by Glenn Wilhide (producer of The Royle Family and The Camomile Lawn). Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village, was published as a fictionalised account of agriculture in Suffolk over 80 years, inspired by the conversations of three generations of Blythe's neighbours. It was regarded as a classic of its type and one of the most influential depictions of rural life, and became Blythe's best-known work, for which he was appointed a CBE for services to literature. Grandchildren of Blythe's neighbours are amongst those performing in the show, and local artist and sculptor of international acclaim Laurence Edwards, an Elected Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors, has designed the set.

The cast are all from the local area, a mix of professional actors and those with roots in the area's agriculture. Actor James Crawley takes on the role of Ronnie Blythe, joined by a multi-roling cast including Helen Shand, whose husband Garrow Shand starred in the film. Musical accompaniment will be provided by brother and sister Finn Collinson and Rowan Collinson.

The fresh adaption of the book is narrated by Ronnie Blythe as he sits at his desk writing, remembering the characters in the farming communities in Suffolk. Spanning the course of the 20th century, a time of enormous change, his story reveals the rhythms of rural lives across generations, the resilience and hardships, their loves and their struggles. Through the intimate record of first person accounts, it examines class, society, religion, education and community in agricultural Suffolk.

Director Jenny Hall said, “I'm thrilled to be working with such a talented cast and creative team. It's an emotional journey into the past for many of us. My great-grandfather was born in a poor house near Stradbroke and my father directed the film of Akenfield in 1974. Surprisingly, it's all too relevant now. But the play is full of humour – a very Suffolk trait.”

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