Written by Philip Ridley First performance 6 September 2000 Original language English language Place premiered Hampstead Theatre | Date premiered 6 September 2000 Playwright Philip Ridley Subject Homophobia | |
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Setting "A run-down flat in Dagenham, East London" Characters Anita (Female, aged 53) Davey (Male, aged 17) Similar The Fastest Clock in the Unive, Mercury Fur, The Pitchfork Disney, Piranha Heights, Ghost from a Perfect Place | ||
Vincent River is a one act stage play by Philip Ridley. It was Ridley's fourth stage play for adults and premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, London on 6 September 2000. The production was the last major collaboration between Ridley and director Mathew Lloyd, who had previously directed the majority of Ridley's other theatrical works.
Contents
It is believed that the play draws heavily from Ridley's unpublished radio play October Scars the Skin which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 January 1989. The story like Vincent River involved a mother of a murdered homosexual who befriends his son's lover and also featured a character called Vincent.
Plot
The story plays out in realtime and is set in a rundown flat in Dagenham.
There a woman called Anita is moving in following the death of Vincent, her son who was killed in a homophobic attack which resulted in her discovering that he was a homosexual in the aftermath of his murder.
In the play we see her interact with Davey, a boy who claims to have been the first to find Vincent's corpse and who wants to know as much as he can about Vincent from Anita.
Notable Stage Productions
Premiere
6 September 2000 at The Hampstead Theatre, London. Directed by Matthew Lloyd.
2007 Revival
30 October 2007 at Trafalgar Studios, London. Directed by Rebecca McCuheon.
American Premiere
10 June 2008 at 59E59 Theaters, New York. Directed by Steve Marmion.
Australian Premiere
4 January 2009 at Tamarama Rock Surfers, Bondi Beach. Directed by Jonathan Wald.
Israeli Premiere.
7 August 2015 at Tahel Theatre.
On Film
In 2006 Marianne Epin and Cyrille Thouvenin starred in the play on-stage, which was filmed and released as a television movie. It is available on region 2 DVD.
The play has been compared to the 2014 film, Lilting, starring Ben Whishaw, Cheng Pei Pei and Andrew Leung and written and directed by Hong Khaou. The story similar to the play is about a man who approaches the mother of his deceased gay lover to try and connect and understand their loss.