''The Roses of Eyam'' is a
historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
by
Don Taylor about
The Great Plague that swept Britain in 1665/66. It is largely based on the events that happened in the 'Plague Village' of
Eyam
Eyam () is an English village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales that lies within the Peak District National Park. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors and lead was mined in the area by the R ...
in Derbyshire, between September 1665 and December 1666. Published in 1970, The Roses of Eyam had its world premiere at The
Northcott Theatre
The Northcott Theatre is a theatre situated on the Streatham Campus of the University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, England. It opened in 1967 and was run until 2010 by the Northcott Theatre Foundation, when the company ceased operating after a pe ...
in Exeter, Devon on 23 September 1970.
Description
The script requires a large cast, within which there must be a core of actors prepared to learn extensive parts and portray passionate and sustained emotion. The play best suits an atmospheric setting such as a Norman church or
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
Manor House
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
, where it can be performed in the
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere
* Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
. Taylor himself filmed the story for television in 1973.
[IMDB details](_blank)
Information on the 1973 TV production.
The Roses of Eyam was originally intended for an adult audience but has become part of children's theatre. The play is now also a set text in many British schools for students of English Literature and Drama.
TV production
A television production of ''The Roses of Eyam'' was broadcast on BBC2 on 12 June 1973 and produced at the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios. Don Taylor himself adapted the stage play for television and he directed it.
Outline
It begins as educated
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
clergyman the
Reverend William Mompesson
William Mompesson (1639 – 7 March 1709) was a Church of England priest whose decisive action when his Derbyshire parish, Eyam, became infected with the Plague (disease), plague in the 17th century averted more widespread catastrophe.
The earlie ...
receives the living from his benefactors, the Saville
Genealogical evidence of this
William Mompesson of Eyam (1639-1709) at Genealogy UK and Ireland. Rosemary Lockie , March 2007 family. A 'King's Man', he is replacing the previous Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
incumbent, Thomas Stanley who has refused to comply with the 1662 Act of Uniformity which makes use of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
compulsory.
The early part of the play establishes that the village is still divided between Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
and Roundhead
Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...
sympathisers. Meanwhile, local tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
History
Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
George Vicars takes delivery of a large consignment of cloth from London. Within days the village is stricken by plague.
Families shut themselves away in their homes fearing that contact with others will invite the infection. With the onset of cold weather in autumn the number of cases falls but rises again when the warm weather comes in spring. An exodus of the village begins but Mompesson and Stanley put aside their differences to persuade the villagers to stay put until the plague is over. The villagers are reminded that if they leave they will be welcome nowhere and will die as outcasts and vagrants, taking many other innocents with them. The villagers voluntarily decide to isolate themselves. Food is left for them by the county High Sheriff at stones marking the limits of the quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
. As the play evolves the audience moves from location to location and the action intensifies as the village empties.
Some villagers build shacks in the hills, or live in caves, to be away from the infection. The deaths continue through the summer with hardly anyone left to bury the dead. Grass grows in the village streets. Both rectors have doubts at their actions but eventually the dying ceases and the survivors learn they have been successful with no other cases of plague occurring in the county.
Some humour is included by the mad orphan boy "Bedlam" who sings and dances through the worst times and the two cantankerous old yokels ''Unwin'' and ''Merril''.
In some productions each corpse reappears in ghostly white make-up until the audience is surrounded by keening wraiths.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roses of Eyam, The
1970 plays
1973 films
Plays based on actual events
Plays set in the 17th century
Plays set in London
British plays adapted into films
British films based on plays
British drama films
1970s British films