|
| Vincent in Brixton |
THE scene is Brixton, London, in 1873 where a brash young Dutchman rents a room in the house of an English widow.
Three years later he returns to Europe on the first step of a journey which will end in breakdown, death and immortality.
Those bare facts are used to imaginatively explore Vincent Van Gogh's relationship with his landlady's daughter and then with the landlady herself, Mrs Loyer, during the three-year period when he lived in this country.
Nick Wright's play, Vincent in Brixton, is the next production by the Company of Ten at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans. It was a great success at the National Theatre and transferred to the West End and on to Broadway, along the way picking up a host of awards and being referred to as "one of the best new plays ever presented by the National Theatre."
The play is a fascinating and believable exploration of a formative period in the emerging artist's life. It is also a moving depiction of love between a young man and an older woman although, as the play says, "no woman is old as long as she loves and is loved."
Among the cast members are Simon Gibson, recently seen in Macbeth, The Bear and Christmas Miscellany, and Rosemary Goodman, who directed Honour, The Regina Monologues and appeared in Amy's View.
Vincent in Brixton, which is directed by Terry Prince, runs in the main theatre from Friday, May 12, until May 20 and tickets are available from the box office on 01727 857861.
© Herts Advertiser 2006. Reproduced by permission