We Will Be Free @ The North Wall, Oxford

Low-tech but hi-impact — that’s Townsend Productions’ show We Will Be Free at the North Wall. Sign-posting that the production would be in the tradition of Mummers’ plays, there was a brief introductory skit of George and the Dragon, but the story moved swiftly on to the trials and tribulations of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, combining an epic story of emancipation with an intimate tale of an ordinary family caught up in great historical events.

It’s set in 1834 in rural Devon where, in the face of hardship and dwindling wages, George Loveless and five other farm labourers formed a friendly society (a kind of proto-trade union) to negotiate with employers. For this ‘offence’ they are transported to the harsh penal colony of Australia for seven years, under some very dubious legal charges. In this two-handed production Neil Gore and Charlotte Powell slip fleet-footedly through a dizzying array of characters to tell this story from both a national and domestic point of view — ranging from pantomimic baddies, such as the local squire, prejudiced judge and self-serving Home Secretary — to simple and eloqu-ent county folk of the kind Love-less and his wife Betsy epitomise.

The production is also interspersed with traditional songs, arranged by John Kirkpatrick, very ably rendered by Gore and Powell, who also play a variety of instruments. The set design, by Jo Barber, cleverly adapts to the wide diversity of locations required while retaining a homespun edge that complements the subject matter. An arresting image was the raising of Jack-in-the-Green on the village sycamore tree prefiguring a change in the men’s fortunes for the better as the public outcry for justice gains momentum.

At times shocking, often funny, and particularly moving in the scenes between the central couple, this play delivers its message powerfully and shines a light on an important but often neglected strand of British history.