Description
Book Synopsis• A play about history, identity and migration. • Originally produced by Visible Ensemble Theatre Company, who explore the issues that affect older people in the UK. A kaleidoscope of stories about war, displacement, revolution and liberation taking us on an emotional journey across three continents. Based on the actors' personal and family experiences, the stories interweave and overlap, exploring moments of joy, sadness and laughter set against key historical events over the last hundred years. Poignant, moving, funny, inspiring, this is the first piece of work created by the Visible, a new ensemble, dedicated to putting older performers and their rich lives centre stage.
Trade Review“You made age beautiful and something to value and celebrate. This play is of huge value and relevance to people of all ages.” Bruce Nixon, Writer, National Theatre Studio
Table of ContentsScene List PROLOGUE PART 1. Mostly though not entirely around the time of the First World War 1. SKYPE. Banbury/Tokyo 2014. 2. QUESTION. Ikaria 2014. 3. IT’S 1914 AND... 4. DISPATCHED. Vienna 1914. 5. FAREWELLS. Ikaria 1914. 6. DEPARTURE. Winnipeg 1915. 7. MUD AND DEATH. The Western Front 1916. 8. CAPTIVITY. Siberia 1918. 9. RETURN. Winnipeg 1918. 10. ESCAPE. Siberia 1918. 11. DUST TO DUST. Winnipeg 1918. 12. TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS. Chita Station 1918. 13. BROKEN-HEARTED. Vienna 1918. 14. HOMECOMING Teheran, 1918. 15. HOMECOMING. Vienna 1920. 16. BANISHED. Winnipeg, 1920. 17. CSARDAS. Transylvania. 1919/1970. PART 2. Mostly around the time of the Second World War 18. BIRTHDAY GIRL. London 2014/Warsaw, 1939. 19. BIRTHDAY GIRL. Rajkot, India 1939. 20. THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR. Vienna 1939. 21. RE-LOCATION. Warsaw/Simla 1940. 22. RE-LOCATION. London 1940. 23. GOODBYE PARENTS. Warsaw 1943. 24. GOODBYE PARENTS. Himalayas, India 1943. 25. GOODBYE BOMBAY? Bombay 1945. PART 3. Mostly though not entirely in 1950s 26. RABBITS. Tokyo 1952. 27. SOAP-BOX EVE. Colindale 1956. 28. DISGRACE. Tokyo/London 1950s. 29. LOVE AND WAR Transylvania 1950s. 30. SKYPE 2. London/Tokyo 2014/1945. INTERVAL PART 4: Revolutionary times: the 1960s, 70s, and 80s 31. IF YOU REMEMBER IT, YOU WEREN’T THERE. 1960s. 32. WHERE IS ANNA LAGANA? Italy 1969. 33. THE BRITISH ROAD TO SOCIALISM. Merseyside Docks 1960s. 34. KOMMUNIZMUS. England/Bucharest 1960s, 70s. 35. THE DRAFT. New York 1972. 36. FLIGHT 1978. 37. THE BIRTHDAY SPEECH. Romania 1989. PART 5: “Ripeness is all” Mostly the 21st Century. 38. ENDGAME: Wiener Library, London 2006. 39. ENDGAME: Singapore, 1993. 40. LEAR IN VIETNAM Ho Chi Minh City 2012. 41. All RIGHT, DEAR? Royal Free Hospital, London 2014. EPILOGUE
