"Why are we all so hung up about death?" asks Virgie in the excellent black comedy After Electra, coming to the Abbey Theatre this month.
Virgie’s family has gathered at her coastal residence for her birthday celebrations, when she confronts them with a shocking decision.
This eclectic mix of characters react in various ways, sometimes shocking, often hilarious.
Dealing with themes of suicide and self-determination, prize-winning playwright April De Angelis confronts our expectations of what women and, in particular, older women, can and should do.
Director Abbe Waghorn, who led the excellent cast of the Company of Ten’s recent production of Private Lives, says: "Growing up in the 1970s and 80s I saw women on television portrayed as either ‘dolly bird’ secretaries or love-sick spinsters.
"They were exhausted, nagging wives and mothers-in-law, or else prostitutes helping the police with their enquiries, but never inspiring, successful women. It was as if creative, powerful women didn’t exist."
This is a play with many themes, but centrally it is about the choices a woman might have to make between career and motherhood.
Surrounded by her more conventional, younger family, Virgie, an artist, reminds us of the free-spirited 1960s.
Abbe Waghorn adds: "April De Angelis knows that many women will relate to Virgie and that not every woman is cut out for the role of motherhood.
"In After Electra, we see a dramatic depiction of one woman’s life-long struggle between that and her career.
"The play explores the relationships between a heartbroken, frustrated and unfulfilled mother and her emotionally deprived children."
Provocative and laugh-out-loud funny, After Electra is both shocking and inspirational, and contains strong language and adult themes.
Performances take place in the Abbey Theatre Studio from Friday, January 28 to Saturday, February 5 at 8pm, with a matinee on Sunday, January 30 at 2.30pm.
To book tickets, go to www.abbeytheatre.org.uk or call the box office on 01727 857861.
The Abbey Theatre has worked hard to ensure that it is a Covid-safe environment and has been awarded a ‘See it Safely’ mark in recognition of its efforts.
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