The Bury St Edmunds Flyer March '23 | Flyer Magazines

Bury St Edmunds Flyer March 2023

The Children, by Lucy Kirkwood, 3rd in The Guardian’s Best Theatre shows of the 21st Century, premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2016, transferred to Broadway where it was nominated for Best Play at the Tony Awards is now being produced by Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.

In Kirkwood’s own words, the story that’s told is a reaction to the very fast way we live our lives now. It’s about slowing down and having space for us to think about the meanings of our actions…

Two retired nuclear scientists live in an isolated cottage on the East coast as the world around them crumbles. They are going to live forever on yogurt and yoga, until an old friend arrives with a frightening request. As the tension mounts between three former colleagues and friends, old wounds are reopened and new ones revealed.  Each of them must decide how much life we are entitled to, and how you decide how much is enough?

This play is inspired by the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. The debate about nuclear power is vital for the people of Suffolk, since the development of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Plant on the Suffolk coast was given the go-ahead last year.

But an anti-nuclear protest play, this isn’t. It explores one generation’s responsibility to the next; it is both about old-fashioned love and betrayal and social conscience and selfishness.

As a society, we are living this debate every day. Whether it’s house prices or climate change, we are all struggling to deal with what has come before us, and we must all consider what we are leaving behind.

Rose, Hazel and Robin are complex characters, written by one of the country’s top playwrights so they need great actors to play them. The stellar cast of Imogen Stubbs (Rose), Gillian Bevan (Hazel) and Michael Higgs (Robin) are not only highly skilled stage actors with years of experience, they have great comic timing; who know how to move us and make us laugh. Because not only is this play filled with power struggles, it is really funny. Audiences are going to have great experience in the intimate setting of Theatre Royal as they see these powerhouse performances, up close and personal.

The Children is sponsored by Chassis Cab.

★ ★ ★ ★ “Grips compulsively.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

★ ★ ★ ★ “A richly suggestive and beautifully written piece of work…. Kirkwood is the most rewarding dramatist of her generation.” Paul Taylor, The Independent

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For advertising in next edition, The Bury St Edmunds edition email Steve: steve.powell@flyeronline.co.uk