Tom at the Farm

Edinburgh Festivals Magazine

Tom at the Farm by Pleasance and Cena Brasil Internacional is based on the original French play by Michel Marc Bouchard. It is a Brazilian adaptation performed in Portugese with English subtitles.

The performance declares itself as epic from the outset. The largest and simplest of stages is only filled with the breadth of characters and the enormity of themes. Based around the death of Tom’s gay lover and his visit to his family afterwards the story unfolds to become a psychological battle of love, passion, violence, masculinity and control. 

The staging, lighting and sound are exceptional and most definitely add to creating visuals of a cinematic nature. Some real creative direction has been thought as to the colour palette of this performance matching the emotion. The use of mud and water being part of this. The sound is brutal in parts and punctuates the drama perfectly.

There is also humour within. In particular when the fourth character appears. But too much of this almost isn’t required because the storyline running throughout is so powerful and the dark side alone is enough with only a little balance needed to reflect the human complexity.

Tom at the Farm is edge of the seat stuff. It sadly is a reminder that somehow prejudices like this are still prevalent and growing today. It strips this back to one story and the dynamics of one country but this will be relatable in some ways across the world. ‘We learn to lie before we learn to love.’