BRIAN FRIEL’S AFTERPLAY TO COME TO THE OLD 505 THEATRE

Afterplay

Director and Founder of Room To Play productions and the Brisbane Youth Theatre company, Heidi Manchė, presents award-winning Irish dramatist’s Brian Friel’s poetic one act play AFTERPLAY at this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival 8-12 September at Old 505 Theatre.

Friel is widely celebrated for his portrayal of social and political life in Ireland, his theatrical masterpiece Dancing at Lughnasa and his translations of famed Russian playwright and author Anton Chekhov.

Afterplay revisits the lives of two characters created by Chekhov over a century ago: Sonya, Uncle Vanya’s dutiful niece and Andrey, the downtrodden intellectual brother of The Three Sisters.

From two different fictional backgrounds we meet them again after twenty years. They meet by chance in a late night cafe in 1920’s Moscow. Both the concert violinist and the determined estate owner cannot escape their origins and their circumstances.

Part of Andrey is still an only boy, confused, motherless, reared in a remote provincial town by a domineering father and his three restless sisters.

Sonya is still wrestling with a difficult estate and deeply and hopelessly in love with the local doctor as she was all those years ago.

Twenty years after their original plays and in their middle age they find a comfortable anticipation in their encounter. There is promise in their meeting until their stories unfold and the glow of their fantasies makes way for reality to reclaim the tragic identities of these cherished characters.

This production has been directed and produced by Heidi Manchė and features Emma Skelton in the role of Sonya and Wayne Bassett playing Andrey.

AFTERPLAY will only have a brief season playing the Old 505 Theatre, 505/342 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills between Tuesday 8th September and Saturday 12th September. Performance time 7pm. Running time one hour straight through.

Bookings- sydneyfringe.com. Phone 95506087.