The Hired Man " review
Mercury, ColchesterHoward Goodall and Melvyn Bragg's musical about Cumbrian working life premiered at the Nuffield in Southampton, but failed to find favour in its 1984 debut in a West End already in thrall to Andrew Lloyd Webber. However, recent revivals across the country have proved the enduring worth and affecting allure of this deceptively simple yet epic tale of small, invisible lives.It is musically rich and n…