Five Gold Rings

Synopsis

‘And I am loving you - Until light waves fall to beaches - Until leap years stumble home Henry has invited his two sons and their wives for Christmas. ‘I want them close As water wants sand One son is sexually fertile, one is not. The opposing sexual needs of the two couples clash, intertwine and explode. Joanna Laurens rich writing bathes the drama in a sensual language as the heat rises and the play hurtles towards its climax.

Our Review:

19 December 2003

Premiered at west London's Gate Theatre in 2000, Joanna Laurens' first play, The Three Birds, won her many accolades, including the Critics' Circle award for Most Promising Playwright. Three years on and her second play is getting the kind of treatment most long-established dramatists would kill for - a top-notch cast (not least Damian Lewis, who returns to the stage after a long absence spent getting famous for screen roles in Band of Brothers and The Forsyte Saga) in a stylish production at the very stylish Almeida Theatre, stylishly directed by the artistic director (Michael Attenborough) himself.

Henry (David Calder) - who lives alone and destitute in the desert (a tipped up sundial of a set by Es Devlin), his wife having long deserted him - welcomes his two grown sons home for Christmas. Both Daniel (Lewis) and Simon (Will Keen) are having marital problems of their own. The first claims impotence and the second denies sterility to the frustra...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (217.196.231.69) - 15 January 2004:

An amazing piece of theatre. I admit that for the first 5 minutes I wondered whether I'd find the odd laungauge structures irritating, but the cumulative effect became mesmerising. All the performances were brilliant and the spare directing suited the story and allowed the language to take centre stage. I was gripped to the end. First class....

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