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Vincent River (play)

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Vincent River
Written byPhilip Ridley
CharactersAnita (Female, aged 53) Davey (Male, aged 17)
Date premiered6 September 2000
Place premieredHampstead Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
SubjectHomophobia
Setting"A run-down flat in Dagenham, East London"

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.[1] 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.[2][3]

It is believed that the play in part draws from Ridley's unpublished radio play October Scars the Skin which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 January 1989.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.[4][5]

Plot

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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

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Country Date Location People Details
England 6 September 2000 The Hampstead Theatre, London. Directed by Matthew Lloyd. World Premiere
Country Date Location People Details
Slovenia 26 October 2007 SKUC Theatre, Ljubljana. Directed by Alen Jelen.
  • Anita - Zvezdana Mlakar
  • Davey - Jure Henigman
 Slovenian Premiere
England 30 October 2007 Trafalgar Studios, London. Directed by Rebecca McCuheon. West End Premiere[6][7][8]
America 10 June 2008 59E59 Theaters, New York Directed by Steve Marmion. American Premiere

Performed as part of the Brits Off-Broadway festival.[9][10]

Australia 4 January 2009 Tamarama Rock Surfers, Bondi Beach Directed by Jonathan Wald. Australian Premiere[11]
England 18 May 2010 Landor Theatre, London Presented by Thomas Hopkins and Theatrica Ltd.

Directed by Robert McWhir.

"10th anniversary production" (2010 London revival)[12][13]
England 2 November 2010 Old Red Lion Theatre, London Presented by Charmers productions.

Directed by Gary Reid.

  • Anita - Debra C.Barker
  • Davey - Frank Keogh
 2010 London revival (2nd London revival of 2010)[14][15]
  • Shortlisted for the 2011 London Festival Fringe Best Play Award.[16]
Israel 7 August 2015 Tahel Theatre Israeli Premiere[17]
England 27 February 2018 The Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester. Directed by John Young.
  • Anita - Joyce Branagh
  • Davey - Dominic Holmes
 England "Regional Premiere" (Manchester 2018)
England 20 March 2018 The Park Theatre, London. Directed by Robert Chevara. 2018 London Revival[18]
Wales 19 September 2018 a site-specific production at Jacob's Market, Cardiff Produced by No Boundaries Theatre.

Directed by Luke Hereford.

  • Anita - Victoria Pugh
  • Davey - Aly Cruickshank
 2018 Cardiff Production
Australia 13 October 2020 Christ Church, Milton, Brisbane Produced by The Curators' Theatre

Directed by Michael Beh

  • Anita - Amanda McErlean
  • Davey - Patrick Shearer
 Queensland Premiere
  • Major revival[20]
  • 5-star reviews

On Film

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In 2005 Marianne Epin and Cyrille Thouvenin starred in the play at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris, which was also 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.

References

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  1. ^ "Vincent River". Bloomsbury. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. ^ "CV of director Matthew Lloyd" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Review of Vincent River". www.cix.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  4. ^ Clarke, Jeremy (June 1990). "Grisly Ridley". Third Way. Vol. 13, no. 5. Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. p. 14. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  5. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 16 January 1989. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Webpage of the 2007 production of Vincent River on the Trafalgar Studios website". Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Vincent River, Trafalgar Studios, London". Independent.co.uk. 8 November 2007. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Scrap-heap drama is a clapped-out old banger". 8 November 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  9. ^ Hetrick, Adam (16 May 2008). "Findlay and Field Will Star in Vincent River for Brits Off-Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  10. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (18 June 2008). "Vincent River". Variety. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Vincent River". www.australianstage.com.au. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Former 'EastEnders' Duffett and Jordan Star in VINCENT RIVER, 5/18 - 6/5". Broadway World. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Vincent River Landor Theatre from 18 May 2010". Londontheatre.co.uk. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Webpage of the 2010 production of Vincent River on the Old Red Lion website". Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  15. ^ Lovett, Jonathan (5 November 2010). "Vincent River review at Old Red Lion London". The Stage. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Webpage of the 2011 London Festival Fringe Award on the London Festival Fringe website". Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  17. ^ "וינסנט ריבר לראשונה בישראל בתיאטרון תהל". www.wherevent.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Park Theatre". parktheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  19. ^ Wood, Alex (3 February 2019). "Off-West End Awards 2019 winners announced". WhatsOnStage. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Web page of the Curators' Theatre production of Vincent River". Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2023.

Further reading

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