Passionate and subtle

Strong female heroines are a major feature in the novels Shared Experience adapt for the stage. But the company have unearthed a forgotten treasure in the shape of Hazel Woodus, protagonist of Mary Webb's 1917 novel Gone To Earth and a woman who could give Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles a run for her money.

A passionate child of nature, brought up by her father in an isolated rural community, Hazel is caught between the desires of two men - the dangerous squire Jack Reddin and the good pastor Edward Marston, whom she marries in such innocence he can't bring himself to consummate the marriage.

Nancy Meckler directs with a fluid physicality but what strengthens this powerful, poetic production is the way it explores the relationship between the lyrical themes of English folk music (innocence corrupted, love betrayed) and the narrative rhythms of Webb's novel.

The wartime novel and the production are riven with the mortal horror of a world seemingly abandoned by a once-benign God. Natalia Tena is fabulous as Hazel, lost in a life of feelings she only slowly grows to understand.

Helen Edmundson's superb adaptation, spiced with humour, ensures the novel's passionate sense of melodrama is always framed within a subtle and sure sense of tragedy.

Until Jun 5, Lyric Hammersmith, King Street W6, Mon to Sat 7.30pm, Sat mats 2.30pm, £9 to £24.

Tel: 0870 050 0511. Tube: Hammersmith

Gone To Earth