Alice Trilogy

Synopsis

Three ages of Alice, 1980, in the afternoon murk of her attic, is Alice losing her grip on reality? 1995, she has summoned a lost love to meet her by the gasworks wall. 2005, at the airport: if the worst has happened, how can it be so bearable?

Our Review:

17 November 2005

What is it about the name Alice? Somehow it’s a name frequently seized on by dramatists and film-makers alike to describe a particularly individual kind of woman, from the feminist musical revue A… My Name is Alice and Woody Allen’s Alice to the wilful seductress of Patrick Marber’s Closer.

Now, as the title suggests, Tom Murphy’s Alice Trilogy contains three short scenes from the life of another woman called Alice, revealed in snapshots taken of her at three different time frames and in three separate locations. I would, in turn, prefer to be able to proffer my star ratings based on each scene rather than the entirety, for after the first two scenes I was ready to pronounce a dismal one star rating to each; but the third actually warrants a full four stars. Since the first two, seemingly interminable, scenes take place before the interval, and the third after it, this isn’t so much an evening to leave at the interval (which would ind...

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Latest User Review

82.43.169.218) - 29 November 2005:

I agree Trev, this is not uplifting entertainment, but something far darker, more serious and affecting. I became totally involved with Alice's musings (after an admittedly shakey start) thanks to Juliette Stephenson's mesmerising performance which is ultimately heart-wrenching and one of the year's best. It's not an easy evening but is certainly worth any serious theatregoer's time....

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