Dance of Death

Synopsis

Dance of Death is a piercing examination of a stifling and embittered marriage, founded on cruelty and a lust for power. The arrival of a divorced cousin further adds to the tension. The setting is a remote British Army garrison island off the coast of Co Donegal, between 1913 and 1916. The political turbulence and upheaval during this period of Irish history form a fitting backdrop for this extraordinary play and give it contemporary relevance.

Our Review:

5 March 2003

Unlike plays of marital meltdowns, Dance of Death proves that a fate far worse than separating may actually be staying together. In this bleakly brilliant August Strindberg classic - subtly rendered in a new version by versatile American playwright Richard Greenberg (Three Days of Rain, Take Me Out) - we bear appalled but fascinated witness to a couple bound not by love but by hate.

Three months away from their silver wedding anniversary, even in their all-consuming contempt, Edgar and Alice - the "two unhappiest people on earth" - realise that they're welded together and can't break free: "I now know that only death can prise us apart." So then, when Edgar is taken ill, the wife greets the news with positive comic relish. "He could die of this," says their visitor Kurt. "Oh, thank God!" she replies.

Marooned on a Scandinavian island known as 'Little Hell', where they've managed to alienate all and even the doctor refuses to visit, the coup...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (217.44.48.43) - 24 May 2003:

Excellent performance by Sir Ian Mckellen who acted out the character of Edgar wonderfully. Francis de la Tour and Owen Teale also to be highly commended. The set was fabulous and even though the play could have been a heavy going affair, the comic touches lightened the whole experience. I urge you to go and see this before it closes.....

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