Bea and Joseph have moved with their newborn son, Dylan, into a house where Bea’s grandmother once lived. It overlooks a field where Bea and Joseph went as local teenagers. The field has plenty of folklore attached to it, and Bea spins stories about it to Dylan – tales of fairies and dragons breathing fire. But when a company starts testing for shale gas in the field, it’s not only the land that is fractured but Bea and Joseph’s hopes for the future, and their increasingly fragile relationship.
Pentabus are one of British theatre’s many unsung treasures: not flashy or fashionable but quietly nurturing a steady stream of talented writers and directors, and offering rural audiences superb touring shows. Neatly directed by Jo Newman, Sian Owen’s play fits the bill, thoughtfully considering the notion of land ownership and that we are only temporary custodians, while it skedaddles back and forth in time and the two performers – Rosie Armstrong and Harry Long – play some of those who have had a relationship to this particular patch of land through the centuries.
These interludes – which include an encounter between a Roman bureaucrat trying to drive a road through a farmer’s field, and an 18th-century farmer entranced by the Jethro Tull seed drill – often have a comic edge. They counter a tendency towards earnestness in the writing, while questioning what progress is and who pays for it.
• At Salisbury Playhouse until 30 April. Box office: 01722 320 333. Then touring.
