Caryl Churchill has been at the forefront of world theatre for three decades. With plays such as Cloud Nine, Serious Money, Mad Forest and Blue Heart she has simultaneously taken the political pulse of the times and stretched our notions of what a play can be. Her miniature masterpiece Far Away once again defies category and precedent.
Set in an unnamed totalitarian state in the near future, Far Away draws disturbingly on our recent memories of conflict – Bosnia? Northern Ireland? Iraq? – and combines this with an Alice in Wonderland fantasy world in which the familiar is made strange and the strange, familiar. Marked – as always – by Churchill’s brilliant and evocative language, the play climaxes in one of the most remarkable soliloquies in modern theatre. Far Away is an exhilarating challenge to the mind and emotions.
Far Away by Caryl Churchill
16 August 2008 – 31 August 2008 @ Playhouse Theatre
Black Swan State Theatre Company
Starring Angela Punch McGregor with Katie Dorman, Stuart Halusz, Catherine Moore and Freya Tingley
Directed by John Sheedy
Set & Costume Design by Bryan Woltjen Lighting Design by Matthew Marshall Sound Design by Kingsley Reeve