‘Clunkily unclear’ ★ ½

We’re in a croft in the remote village of Coillie Ghillie in the Highlands which had to be abandoned in the 19^th century because of contagion. From that historical starting point Ali Milles’s play presents three pairs of women at different points in the history of the building. Or at least I think it does. The story telling is clunkily unclear.

This touring production of The Croft is a revival, now directed by Alastair Whatley. It was originally directed by Philip Franks but the tour had to be aborted in March 2020 at the beginning of the Covid 19 Pandemic.

It opens with two women arriving at the titular croft, in the present, after a long journey north from Letchworth. For the young one (Gracie Follows) this is returning to the family holiday home for a quality time break with her older lover (Caroline Harker) whose mind is preoccupied by her two teenage sons and estranged husband. Of course there is little or no phone signal.

There are audibility problems in this production, right from the start: I struggled to catch many words even from Row G. This may be due to acoustic issues in the Churchill but either way it is not acceptable in a much hyped professional production.

It’s billed as a ghost story and chilling thriller but actually it’s simply a series of, sometimes baffling, time slip scenes with very loud clichéd “ghostly” sound effects (by Max Pappenheim) which quite often drown out the dialogue completely. The sound balance is woeful although the occasional snatches of traditional Scottish music are quite effective as a location reminder.

Attempts have been made, moreover, to ratchet up the ghostliness with devices such as pictures falling unaccountably off the wall and a rocking chair moving by itself – a trope nicked from The Woman in Black. Characters often ask, not always with convincing timing, “What was that?” and it gets wearingly predictable.

There are five actors in the cast which necessitates a lot of doubling and it’s often confusing. If you find yourself thinking “Oh it’s him again. Who’s he meant to be now?” which I did several times, then the piece is failing dramatically. Having said that, there is sense in Caroline Harker - she is the best thing in the entire show - playing both Laura’s older (mother figure?) lover, Suzanne, and her mother who has died from cancer and whose presence she still feels strongly. And Follows makes a reasonable job of playing Laura as an adult and as a child although the significance of her also playing a young unmarried pregnant woman in the nineteenth century scenes was lost on me.

The Croft runs for two hours including an interval but it feels much longer as you watch scene after scene, each flagging up possible story developments but failing to follow them through.

It’s always a pity to see, and report on, a show into which a great deal of hard work has evidently been invested but which ends up as a lacklustre muddle. But it’s a critic’s job to be truthful.

Photography: Manuel Harlan

The Croft by Ali Miles

starring Liza Goddard, Caroline Harker

& Gray O’Brien

On tour from May - July 2025

Tour details https://www.thecrofttour.co.uk