Try engaging your literary friends in serious conversation about the great writers and it won’t take long before the name George Eliot is mentioned. Her most famous work, Middlemarch, is some 800 pages of just that – a detailed word-picture of life in middle England as it was lived in the mid-1800s. It was ranked at a very respectable 21 on an influential list of the 100 greatest novels of all time a few years ago. The Mill on the Floss is another of her seven novels that has infused our culture for so long.
Playwright Deirdre Shields has crafted a thoughtful and perceptive play that uses Eliot’s own writings – from her novels, letters, short stories, journals, poetry and journalism – to reveal the essence of her work, her personal life and her character.
George Eliot is, of course, the pseudonym of writer Mary Ann Evans. She knew that as a woman it would prove almost impossible to be published and taken seriously as a writer, so she adopted a masculine pen name. Fame and fortune followed; indeed she was eventually thought to be the second richest woman in England, only surpassed by Queen Victoria (who apparently read and enjoyed The Mill on the Floss).
As the title suggests, this is a play in words and music. At the Wilton’s Music Hall performances, the words of The Narrator were delivered with flair and feeling by actor Harriet Walter, giving fine voice to Eliot and many of her characters. Hermione Norris and Adjoa Andoh will also take on the role at other performances. Eliot was something of a radical, embracing many of the social causes of the time and Walter gave powerful voice to this aspect of her character.
The Narrator is joined on stage by singer-songwriter SuRie and the six-piece Orchestra of the Swan, an innovative chamber orchestra led by David Le Page and acclaimed for its unconventional programming and willingness to blur the lines between musical genres.
As well as singing, SuRie voices many smaller characters from Eliot’s novels. There was a wonderful chemistry on stage between her and Walter. The show’s uplifting soundtrack includes songs by contemporary female singer-songwriters, including Kate Bush, Florence Welch and Alison Moyet, alongside pieces composed for the show by SuRie and David Le Page. This is an important element of the show and is especially meaningful as Eliot was passionate about music and her writing is steeped in musical allusions.
SuRie was the UK’s contestant in Eurovision back in 2018, where her performance of ‘Storm’ was memorably interrupted by a protestor storming (sorry…) the stage. She has a fabulous voice, rich and mellifluous, and a lovely warm stage presence.
Walter was, as always, a star, delivering the lines with grace and gravitas and a definite twinkle in her eyes when required. And if there’s one thing she can teach us all, it’s the commanding persona that comes with perfect posture. Seeing such well-known performers up close in these more intimate venues is one of the joys of these independent productions. Walter joined members of the audience in the Mahogany Bar after the show and was very happy to chat.
Directed with a nuanced touch by Judy Reaves, George Eliot in Words and Music, is part of a series of plays by Hambletts Productions. Other writers receiving the wonderful ‘words and music’ approach include Laurie Lee and Thomas Hardy, both starring actor Anton Lesser.
Read: Don’t miss in April – your monthly guide to the brightest and best arts in London
The writer Virginia Woolf famously praised Middlemarch as being “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people”. She’d be pleased to know that George Eliot in Words and Music is indeed a play for grown-up people. It really is an intelligent piece of literary theatre crafted and presented by people who care about words and music. And it felt right at home in the delightfully authentic surrounds of Wilton’s Music Hall.
George: Eliot in Words and Music
Narrator: Harriet Walter
Narrator and Vocals: SuRie
Writer: Deirdre Shields
Director: Judy Reaves
Music Director: David Le Page with Orchestra of the Swan
Sound: Jeremy Dunn
Stage Manager: Cat Simpson
Producer: Hambletts
George: Eliot in Words and Music was performed on 16-17 April at Wilton’s Music Hall, London. It is set to tour to Oxford, Coventry, Salisbury and Hertford.
