Jennifer Bryden

Having inherited her father’s farm, a spirited and feisty young woman – Bathsheba Everdene, finds herself playing mistress in a man’s world. She is pursued by three would-be lovers: the constant shepherd, Gabriel Oak; the obsessive landowner, William Boldwood and the reckless Sergeant Troy. But are any of them a match for the wilful Bathsheba? Based upon one of Hardy’s most popular and enduring novels, Far from the Madding Crowd takes us on a theatrical journey through Hardy country, following a passionate young girl propelled into womanhood by her experiences of love and loss.

1974: Against the backdrop of a violent miners strike in their quiet Northumbrian village, a likeable teenage artist falls in love with the new girl from London, but their tempestuous relationship and attempts to escape cause him to betray his family, community and best friends; he becomes dangerously embroiled in the rioting of the strike. With attempts to reconcile them failing, he must choose between his old friends and his new love.