Play Details
Context
Artistic Director
William Gaskill, Lindsay Anderson & Anthony Page
Part Of
Café La Mama Season
Dates Performed
Tuesday 19th May 1970
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Play Details
Synopsis
In the rat’s house at twilight. Post-WWII
A surreal conversation in one act. Non-chronological and absurd, the play takes the shape of a hazy, half-remembered nightmare.
In a blood-soaked ‘Cathedral’, two Black children, presented as anthropomorphic rats, unpack their shared trauma and their former love for a White girl named Rosemary. All whilst in the presence of an ominous parade of Biblical figures.
Cast & Creative
Cast
Lamar Alford
Cast
Patrick Burke
Cast
Michele Collison
Cast
Sabin Epstein
Cast
Patricia Gaul
Cast
William Griffin Duffy
Cast
Arthur Hall
Designer
C.J. Strawn
What our readers say
What is it like reading this play now?
With so much distance from the original production, reading this play today is tricky. The script itself seems intended to be a foundation for a prospective director rather than a blueprint. It establishes very little yet offers a huge deal of creative freedom for production to build upon. So much of this piece relies on sound design, visuals, performance choices, and stagecraft that, engaging with the script alone, offers only a small peek into this dreamlike world. The themes of social divides based on class and race are of course still very prevalent and relatable today. As too, is the unpacking of the shared trauma a society can experience following a cataclysmic world event such as a global war (or pandemic!)
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With so much distance from the original production, reading this play today is tricky. The script itself seems intended to be a foundation for a prospective director rather than a blueprint. It establishes very little yet offers a huge deal creative freedom for a production to build upon. So much of this piece relies on sound design, visuals, performance choices and stagecraft that, engaging with the script alone, offers only a small peek into this dreamlike world. The themes of social divides based on class and race are of course still very prevalent and relatable today. As too, is the unpacking of the shared trauma a society can experience following a cataclysmic world event such as a global war (or pandemic!)
