Play that speaks to farming families

Mechanisation of farming has had a profound effect on what was once simply described as a way of life. When tractors began replacing horses and manpower it signalled a complete change in the social fabric of rural communities. Many still recall those pre-mechanisation times with great fondness through stories of their parents and grandparents.

That’s one of the reasons why a touring production of a play Farm Boy written by the author of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo, has been so successful in the past three years and why it uses a 1924 green Fordson tractor as its centrepiece.

The play, involving a grandfather and grandson set in the 1990s, comes to Helmsley Arts Centre this week and is a moving account of how the English countryside and the people who live in it have been shaped by farming and their love of working on the land.

Actor John Walters is the grandfather and has played farming roles several times in various productions including an adaptation of Richard Betton’s The Farm telling the true story of a farming family in Wetwang, East Yorkshire.

Farm Boy is the sequel to War Horse and tells of a grandson coming to the farm and falling in love with agriculture as John’s character regales him with his stories of long ago, at the time of the Great War.

John has seen how much the production means to today’s farming community and just how the audience enjoys a trip down memory lane.

“When we come to rural areas in particular the performance feels like it is a celebration of farming life. I’ve played big theatres, but this production, when we are in village halls or smaller theatres, feels almost as though it is a religious worship. You feel as though you are contributing in some way.

“We are relating something that many have either experienced or remember their fathers or grandfathers telling them. Quite often I’ve found that if we get chance to talk with members of the audience after the production they will tell you about their own experiences too. It’s always interesting and provides us with even more depth to our characterisation.

“There are funny stories throughout farming and one of the funniest I have been told as we have toured this year was from a chap who came to tell me about the first time his father had a tractor. He told me that his dad was fine jumping on to it, starting it up and driving it, but then he realised that no-one had shown him how to stop it!”

Recently I interviewed Shire horse showman Frank Stainthorpe of Whitby who told me that when tractors came in to use there was still a feeling amongst many farmers that the job could still be done better by horses. This is another thread followed by John Walters’ grandfather character.

“In the play I talk about a ploughing contest that involves both a tractor and horses. The horses win, which seems to go down well with the audience. There is clearly still a strong affection for those days in farming when it seems there was a stronger sense of community spirit than there perhaps is today.

“What I have also found throughout our time touring with Farm Boy is just how important family is to farming life. Our story pulls on a number of emotional heart-strings about grandfather’s life and background, and how his grandson falls in love with farming although being a ‘townie’.

“Everything is symptomatic of the times. In the play it comes out that because grandfather was always busy working on the farm even as a boy he missed out on a great deal of schooling and never learned to read or write. This clearly relates to a number of those who come along, several of whom recall their parents or people they knew having been in the same boat.

“The grandson, played by my third grandson since we started touring, teaches grandfather how to read so that he can enjoy books that he has always wanted to read such as TinTin, Death on the Nile and Animal Farm. My character then starts writing and his first composition is of how his father came to win the Fordson tractor.”

It is this story, in the form of a letter, that the grandson reads as he spends some time in Australia and leads to a rekindling of his love for his grandfather, the farm and farming. It really is quite an emotional tale and one that all audiences connect with and obviously we’re hoping that those in Helmsley feel the same way. Coming to Helmsley is a real treat for me as I grew up in the Pennines and we always used to visit the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales.

“I don’t have a farming background myself but playing characters such as the grandfather has really brought home to me the sense of belonging that still exists in farming today. When we played in Exeter recently we sold out for a run of eight shows. That’s almost unheard of for a play and it just shows the depth of feeling there is for this kind of stage show. When we have come to Yorkshire previously you really can feel the warmth in the audience towards the characters. It is a very real pleasure to be a part of what they feel is about them and for them.”

Farm boy a hit with rural audiences

The Fordson tractor that appears on the stage as the central prop is not a fully working model. It acts as the thread for the production but it won’t be heading off into the audience!

Grimsby-born Gareth Bennett-Ryan plays the role of the grandson who comes from Leeds.

Michael Morpurgo’s sequel to War Horse has clearly found favour with rural audiences. It ran to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010.

Farm Boy comes to Yorkshire on February 28 at The Carriageworks in Leeds; and on March 1 at Helmsley Arts Centre.