This is a Victorian melodrama set in Alsace in 1832 and made famous in this country by actor-manager Sir Henry Irving who first played the central role of Mathias in 1871 and was still playing it when he collapsed and died in Bradford in 1905. The crowds that accompanied his body to the railway station suggest this play was very popular with audiences back then but is there any reason to revive it now?

The very words 'The Bells' suggest Gothic horror and possibly The Hunchback of Notre Dame and, while this production certainly has music, it is no Rocky Horror Show but a look at the programme notes suggests this is true melodrama. This is a word that has become associated with over-acting and lack of subtlety. Conrad Nelson, director and composer of The Bells (and now the Associate Director of Northern Broadsides), explains that 'melodrama' is derived from two words - melody and drama and this is very suited to the Northern Broadsides tradition of using music as an essential part of any production. And it is as choreographed as any musical - it has to be as the confines of the Viaduct Theatre means that every action takes place in full view of the audience.

Sean O'Callaghan as Mathias in his own private hell

The action takes place on and around Christmas Eve at a village inn in remote country on the French-German border. The innkeeper Mathias has become a wealthy citizen and he is also the local Mayor. His only daughter is about to be married to the local captain of gendarmes and all seems to be well in this prosperous household. However, a wild blizzard is blowing outside the inn and the locals think back to a Christmas Eve 15 years earlier which they remember not only because of the weather which was even worse but because a stranger, a Polish Jew who was carrying a large amount of money, disappeared. His coat, hat and dead horse were found but nothing more. This now cold case awakens the interest of the young and ambitious police captain.

Mathias returns home amidst this speculation and we realise he is haunted by the earlier event. He can't sleep at night and now he starts to hear sleigh bells. "The bells," he shouts but, of course, no-one else has heard them…Just when Mathias expects to be at its happiest, on the eve of his daughter's wedding he plunges into his own personal hell and it is a lonely place, far colder than the weather outside.

One of the main reasons that Northern Broadsides has such a loyal audience (you only had to be at the post-production chat between audience, director and cast on the first night to see this) is that the company makes classical drama so very accessible to today's audience. There are probably a number of factors at work here include true ensemble playing, the sheer physical energy of the performance and, of course, the actors actually sounding as though they come from round here.

At face value this play is not as demanding as the Greek and Elizabethan plays which form such an important part of the Northern Broadsides repertoire but as it develops we see The Bells has something quite serious to say about conscience and guilt. Hell may be a cold place as Mathias exclaims several times but so is his inner self. His guilt is his to bear alone. The triumph of this production, and its climax, is the (rhyming) dream section and here we enter a post-Freudian world of the unconscious but this has consequences for the world outside the mind.

Several versions of this story were knocking around in the 19th century. Henry Irving made use of a translation/interpretation by Leopold Lewis but adapted it to suit his purposes as an actor Deborah MacAndrew's new version is expressed in language which does not get in the way of the ideas but is still not entirely naturalistic in its delivery because this is, after all, melodrama.

Irving, it seems, liked to explore the notion of hero-villain and Sean O'Callaghan, making his debut for Northern Broadsides, brings considerable presence to the role. My only problem with the play is that you really can't sympathise too much with this character but this is a limitation of melodrama. At the end of the day Mathias can never be Othello, Lear or even Macbeth, no matter how good the actor.

As always with Northern Broadsides it is difficult to pick out individual performances because it is such an ensemble act. However, Sarah Parks puts in a very good performance not only as Mrs Mathias but in another role in this production but to say more would be to give too much away. Zoe Lambert is a wonderfully stroppy servant with an unhealthy fascination with violence.
Playing new instruments, clog dancing and walking on stilts are just some of the things this production demands of this multi-skilled, and certainly talented, cast.

New Associate Director Conrad Nelson is a familiar face to most people in the audience. He has been an actor with the company for more than ten years taking some of the leading roles. It was reassuring to hear him say that not only is Northern Broadsides planning to build on its success so far but that it has plenty of new work in the pipeline.

At the end of the first night performance several people told the company that it had been a privilege for us, the audience, to come along and see the play. One lady said her only complaint was that it had been too short. A couple of drama teachers who had come all the way from Chester paid tribute to what they obviously thought was best practice. Certainly all of us would have agreed, along with Irving's Victorian audience, that this was indeed true entertainment, and after all this is what brings people into the theatre.

The Bells will be visiting other Yorkshire venues in the next couple of months including Wakefield's Theatre Royal and Opera House. Be sure to catch it if you can!

The Bells is at the Viaduct Theatre, Dean Clough, Halifax until Saturday, September 24th, 2004 and at Wakefield's Theatre Royal and Opera House from November 23rd - November 27th, 2004.