Review: THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY, Bridge House Theatre
This intimate adaptation of a beloved novel offers a welcome and charming escape during challenging times. The clever play carries a touching message, even a century after the original book’s release.
Like George Eliot before her and J.K. Rowling after, E.M. Delafield, the author, reportedly used a pen name to conceal her gender—though the identity would be clear in the case of her most famous work. The Diary of a Provincial Lady serves as a sort of roman à clef, likely resonating with the family history of Count Henry Philip Ducarel de la Pasture’s daughter, whose ancestors fled Revolutionary France.
Published in 1930, the novel shares a similar charm with P.G. Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle stories. It depicts the English upper middle class balancing between fading rural life and growing city opportunities, managing servant and financial troubles, and encountering a parade of eccentric characters. Its lightheartedness mirrors the whimsical tales of Lord Emsworth and his prize pig, offering much-needed lightness in dark times.
The adaptation, performed in the dim setting of Penge, proved a delightful experience. Although the framing device introduced a slightly meta atmosphere and felt somewhat unnecessary, the versatile actors seamlessly shifted roles—often with rapid costume changes—and lively exchanges, transporting the audience to Devon about a century ago.
“The Diary of a Provincial Lady is something of a roman à clef, a description that would probably find favour with the daughter of Count Henry Philip Ducarel de la Pasture, whose family had fled Revolutionary France.”
“It’s as light and frothy as those tales of Lord Emsworth and his prize pig, but that was, and perhaps is so now too, the tonic the country needs for frightening times.”
Author’s Summary
This tender adaptation of E.M. Delafield’s novel brings wit and warmth, capturing English life a century ago while offering comforting levity during today’s hard times.