Her name is our first hint that Bathsheba Everdene is a woman of passions, a trait attracting her three suitors -- one seeking to exploit them, another, to protect her from them, and a third, to wait patiently for her to discover for herself the folly of allowing one's actions to be governed by romantic impulse. Thomas Hardy's novel adheres to the 19th-century literary conventions of complicated plots and nature reflecting the protagonist's state of mind, but fitting all of "Far From the Madding Crowd" to a stage measuring a mere 28 X 30 feet is no problem for the theater whose resume boasts all three "Lord Of The Rings" books and last season's Around The World In 80 Days, along with adaptations of Jane Austen's, Georgette Heyer's and the Bronte sisters' Greatest Hits, also featuring the tag-team of Christina Calvit, Dorothy Milne and Jenifer Tyler.
But Tyler is more adept at playing sensitive heroines than forthright ones, sometimes tending toward shrillness when forced to emote, but reacting with appropriate grace and courage to an ensemble of four men and one woman who together play some 20 characters, in addition to several sheep and one contrary sheepdog.
