by Lucy Kirkwood
“We were lucky. When the wave came, the house was flooded, but not destroyed… just stinking and full of silt... the stench… We fed the cows for the last time... We drove away. We knew they’d all be dead in days.”
In the wake of a disastrous nuclear meltdown, retired couple Robin and Hazel now live in a crumbling cottage, just outside of the exclusion zone around the coastal power station where they once worked as nuclear physicists. Rose, a former colleague, arrives unexpectedly for a long overdue visit and creates comic mayhem in the process.
Chatting and reminiscing casually at first, the cracks in their friendship soon emerge as Robin, Hazel and Rose comically reveal the roles they’ve played in each other’s lives. Then they must face a terrifying decision together.
This gripping drama, written by Lucy Kirkwood as a single continuous scene, premiered in 2016. Inspired by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, it tells a very human story of life, ageing and relationships against the background of a world in ecological peril.
This amateur production appears by arrangement with Nick Hern books.
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CAST
Rose
Melanie Hamilton
Hazel
Anna Franks
Robin
Ian Smith
Rose (understudy)
Amanda Hodgson
Hazel (understudy)
Anne McCarroll
Robin (understudy)
David Dunford
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Lesley Brown
Thanks to everyone involved in tonight’s production of The Children. I really enjoyed it.
Jane Herring
Just to say very many congratulations to you all. I thought last night's performance was terrific. I have limited (Friday night) exposure to the Zoom experience and as I said last night I'm not a great fan. So I'm absolutely full of admiration for what you achieved. Congratulations to Matt especially on the technical side. The overall presentation of the whole thing, and the lovely clear images of the play and total continuity of sound were fabulous. And I agreed with Arwyn - really liked that room setting in the background.
But what I think needs a very special mention is the acting. A number of commentators mentioned willing suspension of disbelief, and what made that possible for me was the sincerity and conviction of the acting. You all created very real characters for me and I felt genuinely engaged and involved in what was happening, which was great. Thank you very much for that.
Gordon Parsons
I thoroughly enjoyed the performances which held my interest throughout. A great achievement. To night it's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" by West Bridgford Dramatic Society. It'll be interesting to compare the two although I feel "The Children" will be hard to beat.
A pity the after show discussion didn't really deal with the issues of the play. People seemed more interested in the medium than the message. The links with global warming came across strongly and the production in my view was invariably interesting.
Thelma Turnbull
I watched 'The Children' and cannot praise it high enough. Absolutely marvellous acting and so clever with the problems we have at the moment. Thank-you to everyone.
Doreen Sheard
I watched 'The Children' last night. What a powerful piece of writing and how very well it was directed and acted. How on earth you managed to do it with all the technology involved I really don't know. Thank goodness Fred was a theoretical physicist and not a nuclear one!!
Linda Burnett
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the play last night. It was amazing! Very professional, cleverly staged and beautifully directed. I was sorry not to have been able to stay for the Zoom discussion, but I was absolutely shattered after a very early start. However, your play kept me awake and avidly watching to the very end. Wonderful!
Sandra Ringham
I thought it was a tremendous achievement and it worked really well! The characters were well drawn and playing to camera throughout was a dream to follow. I'm sure a lot of nails have been bitten to the quick in order to pull it off, but it all looked so professional - as LMT always does! - and I hope to watch another virtual play again if we're so constrained for much longer. Meanwhile, my congratulations to you all!
Colin Treliving
Many congratulations, on “The Children”, i thought production, acting and presentation were very good. You have shown us the way that certain plays could be present in the future.
Good show.
Jane and Keith Tennant
What an amazing production of The Children. Enjoyed it immensely. Very thought provoking. We really enjoyed the after the show talk too. Thank you thank you
Mel Bignal
Absolutely brilliant performance!!!
Maggie Guillon
Just watched your play this evening 'The Children' on YouTube. So cleverly put together, superb performances and very pertinent. We were hooked. Thank you so much to all involved. We have missed theatre very much so this was hugely welcome. We sincerely hope you are managing to survive this difficult times.
Chris Sims
It really was something special, I'm so glad I got to see it.
The hard work really showed. Thank you!
Sue Lee
Many congratulations on a fantastic production!
I watched "The Children" with my husband last night and both of us really enjoyed it and were very impressed with the cast, crew, production, direction and the innovative technical skills. We also really admire the creativity of all concerned and what a brilliant play!
Please pass on our congratulations and best wishes to everyone involved.
Hilary Lucas
I am pleased I was able to watch the production.
It was excellent and all 3 actors were so good.
Well done to everyone involved.
Linda Croston
So proud of everyone involved in last weeks production of The Children, a triumph in these weird times. It was a full bodied production and showed how amazing our members are, thank you Cynthia for heading the astoiunding team.
M Craig Darmola
Well done to all involved
Liza Pybus
It was such a treat to have an evening at the Theatre - although it was virtual it had some of the feeling of a studio production. Congratulations everyone!
Malcolm Todd
It was a really enjoyable afternoon's theatre. I'll never really accept online theatre, can't wait to get back and do it "properly" - but this production was almost as good as the real thing. Huge well done to everyone involved.
Hilary Sutherland
I’ve just watched the 2.30pm production and thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done for being creative in such challenging cirumstances, bringing us live theatre and for the quality of the acting. I was moved, and laughed which I don’t do much these days (!) and found the subject matter thought-provoking. Interesting play to choose in parallel with the global pandemic.
Let us have more and we will all get back into the auditorium and the studio and have a drink at the bar or up those stairs to the art gallery!!
WELL DONE ALL INVOLVED, Yeah Yeah
Marie-Rose Russi-Morger
Herzlichen Dank an alle Mitwirkenden!
Es war eine sehr spannende Performance heute!
Liebe Grüße aus Karlsruhe
an alle die mich kennen
Geoff Caldwell
Couldn't manage to make post play discussion work for me so I've made my way here. Just seen, 'The Children'. A brilliant piece of work by all concerned.
Colin Cartwright
Many many congratulations on an excellent presentation, .
The whole performance went really smoothly, a real credit to your 'techies' bringing it all together - I'm sure an inordinate amount of work went on behind the scenes to interlace the various technical aspects across the three locations and presumably a central hub.
Kudos to the three cast members who adapted magnificently to the challenges of internet acting - it couldn't have been easy for them to get to grips with an entirely new acting process where the participants are in different locations hooked up solely by wi-fi.
Finally, thank you so much for bringing live theatre back in to my life, albeit on the screen - it has been sorely missed these past months.
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