This week, the Pearl Theatre parts its curtains for Stephen Jeffrey’s page-to-stage adaptation of Hard Times by Charles Dickens. After sitting through the production, I contemplated suggesting an addendum to the Playbill. Perhaps, a WARNING on the cover: “This play is long, and the chairs are Amish in comfort level.” But, I realize that such a statement would only discourage theatergoers, and while it has its flaws, there is nothing rotten about this play. It holds all the charm that one has come to expect from a Dickens. So, bring an inflatable donut, and grab a box of Snowcaps during the intermission. Because if you like A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist and the rest of the gang, then you won’t want to miss this one.
Hard Times takes place in the fictional Cokestown, a culture-starved city, where tourists need only to familiarize themselves with three landmarks: Thomas Gradgrind’s school, Josiah Bounderby’s factory row, and Mr. Sleary’s Circus. At Gradgrind’s, students are taught that facts, and facts alone, are all that matters in life; imagination is equated with idleness. Every thought must have an “application,” the only worthwhile question being: how will x benefit the progress of Coketown (and maybe elevate my status within it)? Next up, the mills, owned by man-about-town, Josiah Bounderby. As he slurps “turtle soup from a golden spoon,” his penny-paid workers unionize and plot a Luddite-like revolt. Thirdly, there is Sleary’s, a scrappy sprout of color in the midst of gray. The only reason to know Sleary’s is to avoid it. The people of the tent are to be pitied, not patronized. Acrobatic horseriding and the juggling of knives—well, those are activities of distraction. They are not a means to Coketown’s progress.
Despite it’s three hour running time, in its novel form, Hard Times is by no means a tome; my Signet Classics edition totals a slim 277 pages. That said, it is perhaps Dickens’s most scathing commentary on society. What it lacks in word count, it makes up for in punch. The Age of Industry incensed Dickens. With its assembly lines and barrack-like housing projects, trades were quickly becoming obsolete. Skills were replaced with machines, art replaced by mass-produced replicas. There was no more pride in work; industrialization, according to Dickens, was crushing the human spirit.
These are heavy, complicated ideas, and because it’s Dickens, he is sure to pepper his tirade with humorous relief, satirizing the hell out of every thing and every one. So, it is quite remarkable how mightily the repertory cast of six carries this play. They are constantly on rotation, not only skipping from one character to the next, but also acting as narrators and stagehands, uncovering props to reveal trunks and assisting their costars with costume changes. Indisputably, all of the actors are talented, but it is Robin Leslie Brown who is particularly delightful as the frenzied, meddling spinster, Mrs. Sparsit. And even if Sean McNall’s accent is more Scottish than English, and Jolly Abraham’s straight-up West Indian, you let it slide because you cannot dream of performing such a production every night—so many lines and transformations—and this troupe does so with unflagging energy.
Although the plot transports us to the 1850s, the themes and personalities of Hard Times live on past the era in which they were created. We are familiar with Dickens’s world in our own 21st Century way. In 2010, milling towns are scarce, but The Man lives on, cementing an updated caste system. Utilitarianism has withered, but the Gradgrinds remain, people who regurgitate trendy catechisms, judging others by their own models and figures. We all know a chest-puffing Bounderby who strings big fish stories of a cheerless childhood to emphasize his newfound success, an attempt to gain the admiration of his peers. There are Sparsits, rumor-mongers who take it upon themselves to weave the fates of others. And if we’re lucky, we know a pure soul, a Sissy Jupe who sees further than the eye, finding rays of optimism in even the smoggiest of skies.
While watching this play, one should keep in mind that like most of Dickens’s novels, Hard Times was originally serialized, published in the weekly periodical, Household Words—only one chapter per issue. Readers had seven days to ruminate over a few pages of text. To reel the people in to the newsstands every Wednesday for the next installment, each chapter had to have a hook: say, the introductory sketch of a ridiculous character, or a plot-twist worthy of the Victorian version of water cooler chatter. It is said that Dickens was an avid fan of the theater, and even during his day, his plays were performed, sometimes before they were even finished. But, would Dickens have been satisfied with a continuous 180-minute performance, so much information being showered all at once?
Adaptation is a daunting endeavor, especially when each chapter is packed with enough tricks to keep an audience entertained for a week. It seems as if the brave Jeffreys gave the play a mere trimming—some of the text is quoted verbatim—in an attempt to preserve its Dickensian integrity. Even so, the story feels rushed. So, if I could make one last suggestion: regardless of whether you choose to see Hard Times, definitely read it. Allow yourself your own intermissions, forget the Snowcaps and just devour all that is being said. Revel in the wry, tangential glory that is so peculiarly Dickens.
‘Hard Times’ will be run through March 28, 2010. www.pearltheatre.org
Photo of the Pearl Theatre Company cast by Gregory Costanzo
