A Tale of Two Cities

By Adapted by Mark Fitzpatrick from the novel by Charles Dickens

Directed by Ron Common assisted by Kate Armes

6-9 December 2023

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A brief summary of the events of A Tale of Two Cities.

1775 France is ruled by Louis XVI. Marie Antionette is his Queen. A shortage of grain and sudden price increases hit the poor hard. Participation in the American Revolution drives the government to the brink of bankruptcy. The divine right of the French monarchy to rule is questioned. Social tensions increase.
Great Britain is ruled by George III with Charlotte as his Queen.
Jarvis Lorry informs Lucie that her father, Dr Manette, unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille by the
Marquis de Evremonde for the past eighteen years, has been found in Paris.

1780 At the Old Bailey in London, Charles Darnay, accused of carrying secret papers between London and France, is tried as a spy. The case rests on establishing that he too was a passenger on
the packet boat in which Dr Manette returned to England five years earlier. Some time later, Charles Darnay and Lucie are married.

1782 As tensions grow in France, some members of the ‘Monseigneur’, that is those with titles, choose to leave France and become ‘emigres’ in England. The Marquis de Evremonde is added to ‘The Register’, the coded list of the revolution’s intended victims, knitted by Madame Defarge.

1789 The Storming of the Bastille in Paris. Revolutionaries free only a small number of prisoners, but this symbol of tyranny falls.

1792 The revolution has escalated in France. Many of the Monseigneur class have been imprisoned. Many are murdered when prisons are stormed. Many are rounded up and sent on tumbrils to the guillotine.

In September the National Convention proclaimed the abolition of the monarchy and theestablishment of a republic.
Charles Darnay receives a letter from his loyal servant Gabelle, who has been imprisoned because of their connection. Telling no-one, Darnay decides to return to France to assist. There he is arrested as a member of the hated aristocracy.
Dr Manette, who having been wrongly held in the Bastille, has influence and the respect of the ordinary people, travels with Lucie to France in an attempt to have him freed.
During his trial the reasons for Dr Manette’s detainment become clear.
Darnay is convicted and awaits his final journey to the guillotine.

Sophie Collins – Queen of France/Narrator
Jason Ferguson – MR Barsad
Jared Bilton – Jacques II
H Reeves – Marquis St Evremonde
Tracy Smart – Queen of England/Narrator
Frank Horsley – Dr Manette
Nicholas Bushara – Mr Stryver
Jonny de Mallet Morgan – Sidney Carton
Anthony – Lee Mr Jarvis Lorry
Steve Emery – Ernest Defarge
Jamal Riaz – Gaspard
Zarrina Danaeva – Lucie Manette
Graci Hanlon-Field – Jacques I
Sarah Papouis – Peasant Woman
Pete Plumb – Jerry Cruncher
Emma Jones – Jacques III
Sally Diver – Vengeance
Sue Gullen – Peasant Women
Kelly Verstappen – Madame Defarge
Chris Whittle – King of France/Narrator/Coachman
Robbie Osborne – Charles Darnay
Dave Stenning – King Of England/Narrator/Jo
Amy Bowyer – Miss Pross

Director – Ron Common
Assistant Director – Kate Armes
Producer – Sarah Papouis
Original Music – Mark Beard
Stage Manager – Pete Dilloway
Deputy Stage Manager – Debbie Creissen
Stage Crew – Torrin Gieler, Katie Atkinson, Sarah Papouis
Set Design – Len Shipton
Set Construction – Simon Armes, Ron Lainchbury, David Otway, Len Shipton, Dean Common , Liz Slough, Nigel Bubloz, Ray Mason
Set Decor – Bob Layzell
Lighting Design – Martin Oakley
Lighting Operator – Laura Johnson
Sound Design – Ron Common
Sound Operator – Jeff Woodford
Wardrobe – Milla Hills
Properties – Jo Hall, Sue Glasgow
Hair and Make-up – Chris Horlock
Rehearsal Prompt – Amanda Reeves
Publicity Design – Phil Nair-Brown
Publicity – Sarah Papouis
Photography – Sam Taylor Photography