The Country

Synopsis

Martin Crimp's play delves into the sullied depths of life in the country. "The treatment was wild, children. It could take place at any time of the day or night. In any part of the city. In any part of her body. Her body became the city. The doctor learned how to unfold her - like a map. Until one day the bright young girl decided the treatment would have to end - because the more medicine she took, the more medicine she craved - and besides, she was leaving the country."

Our Review:

7 October 2010

The Country is a taut psychological domestic horror here performed with cutting elegance in Amelia Nicholson’s intelligent production. New country doctor Richard has brought an unconscious woman home, ostensibly under honourable pretences. His wife Corinne remains unconvinced and when the predator like Rebecca awakens dark truths are revealed. All the while Richard’s Lynchian colleague Maurie’s disembodied presence turns this threesome into a four way balancing act of power and control.

Martin Crimp’s hyper naturalistic dialogue could, in a lesser company’s hands, seem portentous but here each repetition and arch silence is delicately delivered with an integrity that makes these pronouncements compelling. Simon Thorp as Richard, the black hole each woman orbits, smoulders nicely doing as much as he can with a purely reactionary character.

But it is the women who are the stars here. Amanda Root whose flashing eyes and occasionally clipped hysteria...

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Latest User Review

Ruth Chatto - 19 October 2010:

This is a terrific play. Not a misplaced word in the whole script. And so cleverly crafted, staged and beautifully acted. Amanda Root's restrained horror as she gradually learns the truth about her marriage brought me to tears. ...

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