Written in 2000, Abi Morgan’s four-women-play is as fresh and relevant today as it was then. Tense political and human drama that should be on the syllabus of any political science course.
In the presidential villa of a country in
the throes of a long drawn-out civil war four women wait for his return home
from a long and difficult working day. Catherine (Genevieve O’Reilly) the photo
journalist has obtained access to the President in his natural habitat of the hoped
for perpetual power he has achieved and hangs on to by the skin of his teeth. Gilma
(Zawe Ashton), Catherine’s interpreter and fixer, has made the compromises she
needs to make to survive and is determined to do what it takes to continue to
survive even though her ethnicity makes her a perpetual suspect. Genevieve
(Michelle Fairley) is a friend of the dictator’s wife, whose late artist husband’s
painting hangs prominently in the living room. And finally, Micheline (Sinead Cusack)
the President’s the strong and ruthless woman who is behind the successful
man behind the failing state.
Written in 2000 and premiered at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Abi Morgan’s play is as fresh and relevant today as
it was then. From Ceaucescu’s Roumania to Assad’s Syria. By focusing on women in
the company of other women Morgan dispenses with male political self-deception
and lets her characters serve the truce about themselves, in no case more ice-cold
ruthless, brutally accurate than in the case of Micheline, the President’s
wife.
"Splendour" is true, intelligent, tense and
insightful. The direction by Robert Hastie keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Peter McKintosh's broken-glass faux art-deco set is just right. The cast is excellent, with
Sinead Cusack giving Micheline just the right amount of fear and courage,
humanity and coldness.
Ninety-five tense minutes of excellent
political and human drama that should be on the reading/watching list of any
political science course. It's also great theatre.
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