The village has lied. William has lied. It is not because I am undeserving. Not because I am young and they are old. God has given them nothing. I know this now.’ Read more …
A dream-play, a thriller, an old-fashioned love triangle meld in this unsettling tale about the constraints and liberating possibilities of language, and a journey from ignorance to knowledge in a nameless young peasant woman.
A modern Scottish classic, David Harrower’s intense rural drama was an immediate critical hit when it was first staged at the Traverse Theatre in 1995, heralding the arrival of a stunning new talent. It is the most performed modern Scottish play internationally and has been staged in twenty five countries across the globe.
The pace of the production does sometimes flag, rendering some passages slow and opaque when it is all important to the central theme that the connection between actor and audience is gradually strengthened and sustained.
While almost taking a leap into gothic thriller territory, in Lu Kemp’s starkly brooding and quasi ritualistic looking production, the play becomes a thing of transcendent beauty.
Sparse, profound and sensual.
Slow-moving but beautiful.
This is a thoughtful, starkly beautiful production; an impressive calling card from the recently refurbished Perth Theatre, a welcome declaration of ambitious intent.
A staging worthy of one of the greatest plays in the Scottish theatrical canon.
Exhilarating and frequently moving.
Perth Theatre prepares to reopen with a revival of David Harrower's Knives in Hens
Lu Kemp and team talk Perth Theatre's production of David Harrower's Knives in Hens
David Harrower--Knives in Hens
Perth Theatre, Perth from Thursday February 1, 2018, until Saturday February 17, 2018. More info: www.horsecross.co.uk
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