Passion Play

By Peter Nichols

Performances - Tuesday 2nd to Saturday 6th July, Bell Theatre

James and Eleanor are a succesful middle aged couple. Their two young daughters have moved away, they both have thriving careers and they share a comfortable life in a comfortable home. James' close friend Albert has recently died leaving both an estranged widow, Agnes, and Kate, the 25 year old girl that he left her for. Kate turns to James and Eleanor for comfort and begins to get a little too close. Having previously split up one marriage which had lasted since before she was born, Kate turns her attentions to James. Can he resist the temptations of a sexy young girl half his age? Will he throw everything away for one last chance to recapture his youth?

Sounds pretty familiar so far doesn't it? Can we possibly take a situation like this, the staple of dramatic conflict in every medium from the written word to the modern sitcom and make it fresh? We can if we make the brilliant observation, as Peter Nichols does in Passion Play, that in such situations what is going on inside the heads of our protagonists is often more dramatic than what they say or even do to each other.

Enter Jim and Nell, the alter-egos of James and Eleanor. From the moment the deception first begins they are there, onstage with their flesh and blood counter-parts, speaking their innermost thoughts, providing the truth behind the lies. Sometimes they interact with their namesakes, sometimes with each other but no-one else sees or hears them.

This hilarious, yet often heart-breakingly touching play premiered at The Aldwych in 1981 with Anton Rogers, Billie Whitelaw and Eileen Atkins amongst the cast and was recently revived, to great critical and public acclaim at the Donmar Warehouse transfering to The Comedy Theatre.

"The play is clever, impudent, erotic and an emotional demolition kit" T.E. Kalem, Time, May 1983

With a great cast of new and seasoned SLT actors (John Hartnett, Anne Marie Carlile, Chantal How, Matthew Lyne, Kay Dobby, Linda East) and a set by Alan Buckman. This looks like being a well supported show so book now to avoid dissappointment.

Anton Krause
Director
anton@southlondontheatre.co.uk