`Hard Times` gets a stage version

Stephen Jeffreys makes a riveting adaptation of Dickens `Hard Times`.

New York: They were hard times, indeed, as industrialization swept across 19th-century England, where formerly self-sufficient craftsmen and women were forced to become low-paid factory workers in soul-deadening conditions.Charles Dickens satirized this sorry state of affairs in his dystopian novel, ‘Hard Times.’ Stephen Jeffreys created a streamlined adaptation, which the Pearl Theatre Company is currently presenting off-Broadway in a humour-laden production notable for tight direction and vivid, high-caliber acting.

The action takes place in the 1840s in a grim Lancashire town called Coketown, where the resentful labor force leads a brutish life. The place is described as devoid of fancy, "where nature was as strongly bricked out as killing airs and gases were bricked in." Six of The Pearl`s resident actors display their usual talent and versatility, narrating some of Dickens` colorful prose while enacting 16 characters plus minor roles. TJ Edwards gives two stalwart performances, one as Thomas Gradgrind, a self-righteous schoolmaster who is utterly confident in his belief that only facts matter. "Never wonder!" he admonishes his curious daughter. Edwards also discerningly portrays poor laborer Stephen Blackpool, humble and downtrodden by life, whom Dickens burdened with an impossible load of increasingly bad luck. Bradford Cover does his usual terrific job, primarily as Josiah Bounderby, a pompous, odious banker and mill-owner referred to as "the bully of humility." Cover has fun with another weaselly character, the wealthy, bored James Harthouse, who insinuates himself into the Gradgrind`s lives for no good purpose. The talented Rachel Botchan gives a sensitive performance as young Louisa Gradgrind, who feels trapped by her facts-only world and loveless marriage to Bounderby, but finds joy in her selfless love for her younger brother, Tom. Sean McNall skillfully embodies both Mr. Sleary, a comically lisping circus owner, and selfish Tom Gradgrind, a dissolute young man with a growing gambling problem. Robin Leslie Brown is memorably toadying as the meddlesome housekeeper, Mrs. Sparsit. Brown expertly conveys Mrs. Sparsit`s inner malice with her tone of voice and deportment, all the while simpering sweetly. Jolly Abraham is spirited as Sissy Jupe, a simple young circus member adopted by the Gradgrinds, as well as the mysterious, elderly Mrs. Pegler. Director J.R. Sullivan keeps up a brisk pace throughout some 30 scenes, providing carefully thought-out details of staging and timing. Various characters` homes, a small circus, a bumpy carriage ride and even a mine shaft rescue, are cleverly and economically simulated. Jo Winiarski`s scenic design makes multiple uses of a worn brick wall and narrow wooden walkway, as well as strategically placed trunks. Precise lighting by Stephen Petrilli aids in the perception of many different settings despite the small stage. Devon Painter`s period costumes give a true Victorian feel to the production. ‘Hard Times’ runs at City Center Stage II through March 28. Bureau Report