Preview: Cranford comes to Nottingham theatre

ONE of the most endearing TV programmes of recent years was the BBC's adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford.

Every Sunday night, millions tuned in to watch Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins retire to their rooms to eat oranges in private or wait for friends to pay calls.

Now anyone who has lamented the absence of Miss Mattie and Miss Deborah from our screens can revisit the Cranford ladies in a new stage adaptation at Nottingham Arts Theatre.

Prolific Nottingham playwright Campbell Kay, a long-time fan of Elizabeth Gaskell's work, has brought her Northern gossips to life in a show being performed next week.

Campbell didn't actually see the wonderful BBC1 drama when it was broadcast in 2007.

"Everyone has told me how wonderful it was," he says.

However, he had previously adapted Cranford in the 1980s and, sensing a zeitgeist, decided to have another go.

"Largely the play was inspired by the presence of the TV programme," he says.

Cranford is renowned for dealing in the minutiae of life.

"It's very much a character-driven piece," says Campbell. "It's like a Greek tragedy in that all the major events happen offstage – the collapse of a bank, a railway accident – and the drama is shown through the women's reactions to them.

"Gaskell takes the ordinary and shows us how extraordinary it is. It doesn't matter how bitchy people are – when the chips are down, they care about each other."

Playing Miss Deborah (the role made famous by Eileen Atkins in the BBC production) is the considerably less frosty Irene Starkie from West Bridgford.

Like many of the predominantly female cast, Irene has considerable acting experience – in her case more than 50 years in am dram.

She adored the BBC series ("I love anything in costume") but has no fears about following in the footsteps of Eileen Atkins – simply because, she says, this Cranford's interpretation of Miss Deborah is slightly different.

"I'm a very austere lady still but I'm a bit more forceful than the Eileen Atkins character. I'm probably the loudest character in the play," she says.

Miss Deborah retains the quirks that made her so beloved in the BBC version.

In one scene, she forces her gentle sister Miss Mattie to lay little newspaper tracks along the floor leading to each chair, so visitors don't tread on their new carpet.

Meek and mild Miss Mattie was played by Judi Dench in the BBC's Cranford. Here the role is taken by Carol Parkinson, from Basford. Carol has been acting with the Arts Theatre for three years.

Miss Mattie endures several trials in the play – the loss of her money, not to mention various key people in her lives, but emerges into a thankfully happy ending.

"The idea is that the audience will warm to her as the other characters do," says Carol.

The final member of Cranford's trinity of chatterboxes is the bustling busybody Miss Pole, played by Pearl Beddoes from Carlton, who has been with the Arts Theatre for 30 years.

"She's always putting her spoke in and can be quite domineering at times," explains Pearl.

She says she hopes the popularity of the BBC series will serve the production well.

"I keep chatting to people who say, 'I loved that on the TV – I must come and see the play,' so I hope we get good audiences."

The play will be acted in period-style outfits which have been designed by ex-Covent Garden costumer Barry Holland.

It is directed by Patricia Tribe, from the Vale of Belvoir, a former professional actress who appeared in The Forsyte Saga and whose past two directorial outings for the Arts Theatre have been nominated for national awards.

"This is the most difficult thing I've ever directed because Cranford doesn't have a plot; it's more a series of episodes," she says.

"It's all about the characters. Mrs Gaskell was way ahead of her time. She has put the women of Cranford as very much in charge."

Cranford runs at Nottingham Arts Theatre, on George Street, from June 8-13. 0115 947 6096. See listings for details.