Far From the Madding Crowd (Swale)
by Thomas Hardy, Jessica Swale

When Bathsheba Everdene inherits a farm from her uncle, no-one expects her to run it alone.

But our spirited young heroine will not be deterred and eagerly takes up the gauntlet.

She rises impressively to the challenges of sheep farming, but the trials of the heart are harder to overcome.

Caught between a pair of suitors - the kind and dependable shepherd Gabriel Oak and the prosperous eligible bachelor William Boldwood, her choice seems hard enough.

Then the dashing Sergeant Troy appears over the horizon, with a swagger in his step and a dangerous secret in his past.

Who will she choose?

Adapted by Jessica Swale, whose play Blue Stockings was nominated for an Evening Standard Award.

Her other adaptations include The Secret Garden and Sense and Sensibility , also for the Watermill.