Diana of Dobsons by Cecily Hamilton
Tabard Theatre, July 1999

"If I could only live, really live just for one year, I would be content with the memory and not mind becoming a machine again for the rest of my existence" is the Faustian premise for Diana of Dobson's directed by KDC newcomer Jennifer Rhoads. Diana is a victim of the 'living-in system' which was employed by the large department stores in the early 1900's, whereby unmarried women, with little prospects, were forced to live and work within the stores for a pittance in this pre-Pankhurst era.

Having inherited a relatively small fortune of £300 Diana, played with superb subtly and conviction by Katharine Peachey, decides to get out of the oppressive system she has been trapped in and use the money to live for one month as a woman of wealth rather than save it for later life. She embarks on a journey to Switzerland where she plays the part of a recently widowed lady and encounters and engages the frivolous and superficial upper class in a debate on social issues. This interesting Prince and the Pauper scenario highlights the value of humans within society and should, it is hoped, have stirred the consciences of the time.

The play opens in the dormitory of Diana and her fellow shop assistants and it is here that she receives her good fortune. The set is well presented in its minimalist but detailed depiction which also brings to mind a WW1 hospital. Jacci Wilkie, Lucy Eveleigh, Sophie McCallum and Vanessa Read play Diana's roommates and all together create a lively and spirited ensemble. Then enters the dragon, their forewoman the dreaded Miss Pringle, like a housemistress I once had, with her fines and cold stares. There ensues a confrontation between Miss Pringle (Safra Martin Ross) and Diana who in mind of her new fortune essentially tells Miss Pringle to stick her fines where the sun don't …

Shortly after we arrive with Diana in Switzerland, the journey depicted in an Indiana Jones style using projections provided by Adrian Samuels which worked well though were slightly washed by the lights; the balance between lighting and projection is a fine one but was well attempted by Adrian and Lou Milling (whose lighting is general was very well balanced). It is in Switzerland that Diana encounters the 'other half', half of whom are trying to woo her in the forms of Sir Jabez Grinley (a man of brass played by William Hutchings) and Capt. Victor Bretherton (an unskilled layabout ex-guardsman and nephew of Mrs Cantelupe played by Stuart Denman). The remaining half are Mrs Cantelupe (Jo Lee) and Mrs Whyte - Fraser (Denise Prentice) who are snobbish and gold digging beneficiaries of the system which has oppressed Diana and her workmates. Together they set about trying to trace the family of Diana and hope to learn more about the source and security of her, and hopefully their, wealth. In the meantime they are forced to engage in debate with Diana on the social ills that are ravishing their reen and pleasant land which they find most unsettling in the fine alpine air.

After turning down a proposal of marriage from Sir Grinley, himself an owner of a department store, she also turns down the Captain and reveals to him the secret of her short lived wealth. Feeling cheated and used the Captain retracts his offer of marriage and Diana returns to England but not before laying a bet with the him that he would not be able to survive on her rung of the social ladder as she survived on his.

Back in England we witness two figures huddled together for warmth on a park bench. One figure is that of the Captain who explains to a passing policeman (Adrian Samuels) that he has taken Diana up on her bet, unbeknownst to her, though rather unsuccessfully. The policeman goes on his way only to be replaced by Diana, who since returning to England and has been unsuccessful in her re-employment at Dobson's and is herself unemployed. Now she is starting to perhaps regret blowing her fortune though she has tasted a better life. The two are then reunited and go off into the sunset but with no real promises of the future bar more hot coffee from the local vendor.

With exquisite costumes, the corsets as constraining as the male dominated society, and careful direction this was a piece I enjoyed seeing and found engaging and informative. Being a hot sunny Saturday afternoon I was slightly apprehensive when I climbed the Tabard stairs and entered the dark studio. However, on my return to the outside world I felt that Diana of Dobson's was as illuminating as the mid-afternoon sun.