And the Children Never Look Back

Leslie Black Photography

Translated and Directed by Graeme Maley. A remote Island, full of mythical tales, childhood memories and a very recent horrific past, is the setting for the local and the city boy, forced to confront their prejudices. Read more …

'Ma grannies island 's a place all children dream of. Ma grannies island 's a place where children die'. And the Children Never Look Back, is a beautifully simple play, connecting the modern world to the shared histories of the Icelandic Saga's and our own sea myths.

The critical consensus

The play is oddly structured, often more like a raging monologue from Julie Austin’s grief-stricken Sunna, with occasional interruptions from Mark Wood’s Danny, than a genuine conversation. It’s difficult, though, to resist the power of a drama that, for all its brevity, slices straight to the heart of our increasingly impatient demand for simple, blame-shifting explanations that keep tragic events at a distance.

(*) Joyce McMillan, 25/09/2012