New writing from three of the UK's hottest talents proves to be a moving display of a family's raw emotion.
The end of the world has a date. It's three weeks from now and the Benton family are deciding where they should be when the sky falls down. Despite its doomsday premise, the play's three authors Simon Stephens, Robert Holman and David Eldridge have made A Thousand Stars intrinsically hopeful. It forms a plain but heartfelt love letter to the world, explaining how it all could be, if only we said the things we never do.
Most of the Bentons decide to converge at the family farm, and their homeward journeys bring to light the worst of their ugliness and allow them some of their finest moments. William Benton has lived on his family's pig farm his entire life and now, dying of cancer there, it's his wish to spend his last moments with his brothers. This proves to be a near impossible task since he's estranged from the perpetually late eldest brother he once tried to kill, and one of his younger brothers has been missing since childhood.
Holman, Eldridge and Stephens have clearly had fun and been extremely thoughtful in constructing their characters' back stories, creating their mistakes, conjuring their darkest secrets and sending their lives awry. And the family dynamic is skilfully crafted. Ann Mitchel portrays the stoic Mrs Benton who wants her sons to be strong, mourns her husbands loss of libido and had her youngest child at 58. 16 year old Philip Benton, played delicately by Harry McEntire, eagerly absorbs the gently stream of information pouring from his family. His brother confides in him, his mother has much to explain and the ghost of his grandmother visits, allowing him a glimpse of the passionate affair she had with a Jewish refugee.
The various branches of the family tree wouldn't have the impact they do without the outstanding acting from the entire cast. Tanya Moodie eloquently delivers some refreshingly honest lines about her marriage to her husband and his mother. Lisa Diveney as the grandmother along with Ann Mitchell as her daughter highlight the consequences of inheriting the anxieties of the previous generation.
Cleverly staged with effective lighting from Adam Silverman and seemingly simple but clever set design by Jon Bauer, A Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky proves to be a touching display of a family's urgent but gentle catharsis.
A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky runs at Lyric Hammersmith until 5th June
Click here for more New Writing in London
Click here for more London Theatre
Click here for more Things to do in London
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...