Welcome to the Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club

The Mare Rider

Arcola, Inner London
From: Tuesday, 22nd January 2013
To: Saturday, 16 February 2013

Our Review:

Search for tickets

Use the link below to search for The Mare Rider tickets on your desired date.

We're sorry, it seems that we do not currently sell tickets for this show. Please go directly to the box office.

Synopsis

In the maternity ward of a London Hospital, Selma is stuck between other people's reality and her own. She's visited by Elka from afar, who takes her on a fantastical journey of dreams and fears - stealing wine, meeting seahorses and mermaids, and riding mares across meadows.

Our Review:

28 January 2013

Myth and reality meet in the maternity ward of Homerton Hospital in Leyla Nazli’s latest play at the Arcola. Elka, a dark, haunting figure from Turkish mythology visits the emotional and disorientated Selma, who has just given birth. Nazli skilfully brings the two women together to examine modern life and the changing facets of the feminist movement.

Divided by a thick, white strip and hospital bed, the audience watch on as the witch-like Elka, (played by Kathryn Hunter) visits Selma (Anna Francolini). A mythical figure renowned for stealing babies, Elka has been present in both Selma’s childhood and nightmares. As she recounts her own fight for freedom, (she was only free to live out her dreams at night), Elka draws out Selma’s inner turmoil at waiting twenty years to start a family, and her struggles with modern life. A debate about feminism ensues in which Elka blames the “many choices” that modern women possess for Selma’s current...

Read more of the review