A double bill inspired by Chekhov
Brian Friel was winner of the Evening Standard Best Theatre Play Award for The Home Place. Plays in the West End and National Theatre also include Translations, Aristocrats, versions of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters, Philadelphia Here I Come! and Dancing at Lughnasa.
Directed by Jenny Lee
Designed by Laura Smith
Lighting by Roger Frith
Afterplay
A run-down cafe in Moscow in 1921. Two lonely travellers. A delicate and haunting
brief encounter between Sonya (from Uncle Vanya) and Andrey (Three Sisters)
meeting twenty years on. As tea gives way to vodka, there are many layers to
the truth in the unravelling of two lives. And through their subterfuges, longings,
lies and revelations there's a divine humour that utterly captivates.
The writing is superb. The play stands in its own right as a modern miniature classic.
A duet of the highest order ...
imbued with Chekhov but acquiring a poetic life of its own. Daily Mail
The Bear
A wealthy young widow is in mourning. Enter an ex-soldier (her neighbour)
hell-bent on getting her to repay a debt. Tempers erupt, the duelling pistols
are out, and caught in the line of fire is the ancient manservant ... passions
take an unexpected turn on this hot summer day in 1890. Friel's version of Chekhov's famous farce.
Superbly funny ... vivid. Financial Times
Afterplay & The Bear premiered at the Gate Theatre, Dublin in 2002, after which Afterplay transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in the West End. ATTIC had the London premiere of The Bear at Wimbledon Studio in 2006 in a double bill with Afterplay.
Tour dates - Guildford, Boston, St Albans, London (All Saints), Birmingham, South Shields, Alnwick, Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Halifax, Selkirk, Greenock, St Andrews, Peebles, Glasgow(Tron), Edinburgh(Traverse).