Photo supplied by Sewell Barn Theatre

 

Playwright Dawn King has created a decidedly bleak version of a rural England under the thrall of a despotic and intolerant regime that intrudes into every corner of people’s lives. The mood in this play is grim, but we know that Sewell Barn like rising to a challenge.

Samuel (Gavin Bromley) and Judith Covey (Katie Cary) are a husband and wife farming in a bleak and waterlogged corner of remote countryside. Flooded land has hit their crop yield, but worse troubles have hit them harder.

They learn that they are obliged to host the visit of The Foxfinder, William Bloor (John Dawson). This official has total power over their future, and the premise he operates on is that supposedly eliminated foxes are returning and causing physical and spiritual carnage on farms. Any disaster is attributed to their malign presence, however implausible.

On a sparse set the only other cast member is Sarah (Loretta Askew) the neighbouring farm wife and Judith’s friend.

As the tense dialogue progresses we learn more about Samuel and Judith’s tragedy, and we discover that William is an apparently cold blooded 19 year old schooled for his role after being taken from his parents at a very young age. His power over the farmers is initially bureaucratic, but soon unveiled as corrupt and venal.

The four actors give convincing characters and certainly know how to time their performances to keep the tension high in this oppressive thriller. Katie Cary as Judith is very powerful as the farmer’s wife who provides strength and continuity as her family face extreme pressures, while in contrast John Dawson gives us a truly bleak version of the Foxfinder with all his flaws and vicissitudes.  The pressure of the long and unwanted visit to the farmer’s home leads almost inevitably to a dramatic end. Director Stephen Keyworth focuses on keeping the tension high in this stark work.

The play will raise many thoughts amongst audience members about how we seem to be inevitably drifting towards intolerant and intrusive government that relies on misinformation and fearmongering to quell the aspirations of working people. It is not a cheerful experience, but it is a powerfully presented drama that raises important questions. If you like dense, dark and tense thrillers you will enjoy this, if you are already convinced that the world gets ever more grim day by day this will not improve your mood. Yet however bad the daily newsreels are, we can rely on one constant bonus in life: Sewell Barn Theatre always pull out all the stops to give us the very best version of the plays they present in their atmospheric building.

 

 

© Julian Swainson 29 May 2025
Norwich Eye

Foxfinder is at the Sewell Barn Theatre 29-31 May and 4-7 June 2025 at 7.30pm with a matinée on 7 June at 2.30pm. Go to www.sewellbarn.org for tickets and further information