Ana calls Edward’s bluff on their disintegrating relationship and enters a deadly truthful world where honesty is celebrated in all of its dangerous glory. Read more …
They don’t make women like Helen anymore: loving mother, home-maker, wife. But beneath the civilised veneer of her life, a dark truth threatens to surface.
Two couples explore the threat of honesty and our perverse need for it in this blistering play from one of UK theatre’s most exciting new voices, Sam Holcroft. Her first play, Cockroach, was an instant sensation when it premiered as part of the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) and Traverse Theatre Debuts season.
Zinnie Harris is a playwright and theatre director. Her stage plays include Fall for the Traverse Theatre Company (Traverse Festival 2008) and the award-winning Further Than the Furthest Thing (Tron/National Theatre). As a director she has worked for the NTS, Tron Theatre and the RSC. Most recently she has been writing for screen including Spooks (BBC1).
Contains scenes of an adult nature.
Some play, some topic, some black and bilious comedy.
Pretty disappointing.
There's something missing from Holcroft's dissection of the beauty myth.
When I say that this is a deeply unpleasant play I mean it as high praise
An overblown drama...attempts to shock fall completely flat.
If the play is a bit of a mess, though, it features five undeniably strong performances.
The earnest efforts of the cast can't make any of their ever-shifting characters sustain a reality from scene to scene.
This is not a perfect play, but its brave considerations of identity, the body and sexuality make it compelling viewing.
The Traverse does neither Holcroft nor the audience any favours by staging this stillborn play.
Holcroft's script may be too ambitious...yet the performances...ensure that the play remains powerful and engaging.
Thought-provoking but not always for the right reasons.
Sometimes, with it's in-yer-face tactics, you feel that less would be more.
Holcroft clearly has talent to burn and the cast are excellent, but there's a woeful lack of control here. Shame.
Truth is stranger than fiction
While You Lie
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Thursday August 5, 2010, until Sunday August 29, 2010. Check the Traverse website for times and prices.. More info: www.traverse.co.uk