The Girl in the Yellow Dress

Synopsis

Craig Higginson’s powerful new play is a dark, witty and sexually-charged psychological drama. Set in Paris, the play explores the relationship between Celia, a beautiful young English teacher, and Pierre, her French-Congolese pupil. Brimming with humour, rage and longing, this gripping play provides both a minute exploration of an increasingly hazardous romantic entanglement, and an insight into the tensions around class, race, language and identity that lie at the heart of present-day South Africa.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 26 March 2012

Do you feel funny about feet? If so, the erotic foot-stroking scene at the heart of The Girl in the Yellow Dress may not tickle your fancy; it comes at a crucial mid-way point in the sexy cat-and-mouse game played out by a black French-speaking Congolese student, Pierre, and his white English private tutor, Celia.

Craig Higginson’s play was a delightful discovery on the Edinburgh Festival fringe two years ago; Tim Roseman’s revival (first seen at the Salisbury Playhouse last October), though very good, is less electrifying, and therefore more exposed in its schematic structure.

But as a set of variations on the teacher/pupil relationship with a sexual undertow (check Willy Russell’s Educating Rita and David Mamet’s perennially disturbing Oleanna), it certainly earns its keep, and throws in linguistic foreplay, inter-racial tension and psychological neediness to boot.

And it’s beautifully...

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