Enlightenment
From: Thursday, 30th September 2010
To: Saturday, 30 October 2010
Our Review: 
Your Reviews:
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Synopsis
A suspenseful drama which cuts to the heart of every parent's worst fear - the disappearance of a child. 20 year old Adam is missing. Five months on his parents continue their search, grasping at the hope presented, in turn, by a kindly spiritualist and ruthless journalist . Out of the blue the phone rings. But is it the call they've been waiting for? Enlightenment is an incisive tale of loss and yearning, of the search for truth and the consequences of its revelation.
Our Review:
7 October 2010
Tennis balls bounce, projected on the curved wall of the bleakly stylish room in Lia and Nick’s home. The balls are a symbol - insistent but providing necessary cohesion - in Shelagh Stephenson’s new psychological thriller. But any genre term is inadequate to describe this ambitious piece, expressing Western fear of a poor, threatening and less predictable world beyond familiar comforts, global interconnectedness and the nature of identity.
Adam, a gap-year student, is missing, possibly blown up in a Jakarta terrorist attack. His parents, unable to complete the story of what happened to him, are trapped in an agonising moment. His mother, Lia (Julie Graham), idealises him, polishing what narrative she has and consulting a medium for more information, however spurious. A manipulative television producer (Daisy Beaumont) plans a heart-tugging docu-drama - another kind of story.
Enter a young man. He knows about Adam’s experiment with the tennis ba...
Latest User Review
Gareth James - 13 October 2010:
I’d love to report that Ed Hall’s first production as artistic director of Hampstead Theatre is a stonking success. His appointment at this beleaguered venue, which has never truly arrived in its new building, is very welcome indeed, but I can’t lie – Enlightenment is at best OK. Shelagh Stephenson isn’t a very prolific playwright but she has written some interesting plays, notably The Memory of Water. Her subject this time is the disappearance of a son whilst back-packing, using this story to explore themes of connectedness and unease in the post-09/11 world. What you get is a tale which is part thriller part mystery which doesn’t really go anywhere but passes a couple of hours you don’t necessarily regret but you won’t be talking about soon after leaving the theatre. It’s fairly intriguing and occasionally funny, though a lot of the dialogue seems forced and clumsy, as if she really hadn’t believed in her own characters. Francis O’Connor’s design is outstanding – a minimalist home which easily morphs into other locations like an airport and a park with a few props and excellent projections on the walls and ceiling. The acting honours belong to newcomer Tom Weston-Jones, though he’s lucky to have the most interesting character. Julie Graham and Richard Clothier were unconvincing as the parents and Polly Kemp’s psychic and Daisy Beaumont’s documentary maker were mere caricatures. Paul Freeman makes a very believable politician / grandfather. The rest of Hall’s first season looks promising, though allowing three writers to direct their own work and letting Katie Mitchell, the queen of pretension, loose in the new studio may prove foolhardy!...
Creative
Shelagh Stephenson (Author)
Hampstead Theatre (Producer)
Edward Hall (Director)
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