Actually, my two statements were not meant to be directly related.

A. My overall impression of the script, acting, soundtrack, etc. was not the best; I'm sure I'll enjoy the book more.

2. If you're going to hand an actor a concertina (which was probably inappropriate in this case, anyway), give them a clue what to do with it. (I wasn't watching the fingering, which would be a lot to ask for) so much as the use of the bellows -- it was an anglo box.) Although, if the production was filmed in the order the scenes appeared, it may have been that the actor fiddled with the instrument (if I may put it that way!) a bit and by the end was doing a little better with it. But, that may be my imagination -- I would think that they'd have taken the reeds out so that the actor's playing wouldn't interfere with other sound recording! There certainly wasn't a close focus on it in the filming, so a high degree of authenticity wasn't required.

But, item 2 was one among several details that didn't work for me in this production. It's one that probably wouldn't have bothered me if I wasn't a concertinaphile, but my overall impression would have been the same: a pleasant show, but uninspiring.

~ Becky in Tucson