Description

M3 F4, 2 boys (aged 9). Extras. Various simple settings. Period 1955

Samuel Adamson takes Ibsen's Little Eyolf, a haunting psychodrama of guilt, sexual frustration and self-deceit, and re-locates it to 1950s England. Rita Affleck is a sensual, intelligent woman, stifled by circumstances. Her troubled ex-serviceman husband Alfred returns home after six weeks in the Scottish Highlands and vows to devote himself to their disabled son Olly. Rita decides that Olly has stolen Alfred from her, and claims her right to her husband's unconditional love. When he overhears their arguments, Olly - who was crippled whilst his parents were preoccupied with lovemaking - follows the mysterious Flea into the sea, and tragedy ensues. Mrs Affleck was presented at the National Theatre in 2009, directed by Marianne Elliott and starring Claire Skinner and Angus Wright.

"Laden with fine writing (and) a keen dramatic intelligence ..." The Independent

" ... a powerful re-working of this bleak indictment of parental egocentricity." Daily Express

Rita Affleck: 31. Alfred Affleck: Rita’s husband; 39. Oliver Affleck: their son; 9. Audrey Affleck: Alfred’s half-sister; 31. George Constantine: Sophia’s son; 9. Flea: 16-19. Jonathan Mortimer. Waitress. Tea-house patrons / Passers-by. Sophia Constantine: George’s mother, Jamaican; 30.

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