(Julie-Anne McDowell
in “My Name is Lucy Barton”. Pic supplied)
How Now Brown Cow presents the South African premiere season of the multiple award-winning My Name Is Lucy Barton.
Written by Elizabeth Strout and adapted by Rona Munro, My Name Is Lucy Barton is the story of a writer reckoning with the legacy of a scarred family life who is coming to terms with the cost of her childhood and the rewards of her art.
The production will star multiple award-nominated actor Julie-Anne McDowell (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Revlon Girl) and be directed by multiple-award winning Charmaine Weir-Smith (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Train Driver).
The production will be presented at the Hilton Arts Festival in August, at the Baxter Studio in Cape Town from September, and in Johannesburg at Theatre On The Square in October 2024.
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016, the Baileys Womens Prize For Fiction 2016 and a #1 New York Times Bestseller, Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout shows the most tender relationship of all – the one between a mother and daughter.
Lucy Barton wakes after an operation to discover – much to her surprise – her estranged mother at the foot of her bed. Over the course of her mother’s visit, she and Lucy seem to reconnect, but just below the surface lies the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life.
Lucy’s encounter with her mother brings into sharp focus her troubled childhood in rural Illinois and her current life in New York City. Knitting these powerful memories together, Lucy begins to come to terms with her past and her future as a writer.
My Name is Lucy Barton is a story for anyone who has questioned how family defines oneself. It is a powerful narrative of hope and triumph about a woman who finds her truth and reclaims her story.
The production will star multiple award-nominated actor Julie-Anne McDowell (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Revlon Girl) and be directed by multiple-award winning Charmaine Weir-Smith (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Train Driver). Design is by Kieran McGregor (Expelled).
My Name Is Lucy Barton has been adapted for the stage as a one woman show by acclaimed TV, Film and Theatre writer Rona Munro (winner of the Evening Standard Award, NOOK Award and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award). It opened at The Bridge Theatre in London in 2018 starring Laura Linney who reprised her role on Broadway in 2020.
Press comments about the play include:
" "My Name Is Lucy Barton" offers us a rare wealth of emotion from darkest suffering to simple joy”. The New York Times Book Review
“The story of a single
life that also manages to tell the story of many”. The Independent
"A powerful
storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships, weaving family
tapestries with compassion, wisdom and insight." The Guardian
"Strout’s language,
deftly adapted for the stage by Rona Munro, is simple in the way of a coiled
pot or a Shaker chair, a solid, unfussy construction whose elegance lies in its
polished unity” New Yorker
“Tremendously
affecting… This delicate memory piece resonates with the soaring vitality of a
life fully lived”. The Hollywood Reporter
*“Glorious, tender,
true” Sunday Telegraph
“Reminds us of the
power of our stories and our ability to transcend our troubled narratives” Miami
Herald
My Name is Lucy Barton
will have its premiere season in South Africa at the Hilton Arts Festival from August
2 to 4, 2024, before transferring to the Baxter Studio in Cape Town for a
season running from September 18 to October 5, 2024. Completing the season, the
production will then transfer to the Theatre On The Square in Sandton,
Johannesburg and will run from October 9 to 27, 2024.
Tickets for the Hilton Arts Festival can be booked here: https://hiltonfestival.co.za/
Follow all the news on the How Now Brown Cow Social Media
pages here:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/hownowbrowncow_productions/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/hownowbrowncowproductions/
My Name is Lucy Barton
is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel
French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
My Name is Lucy Barton
was originally produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne
Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer, The London Theatre
Company, Nicholas Hytner, Nick Starr, in association with Penguin Random House
Audio on January 15, 2020.
My Name is Lucy Barton
was originally produced by Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr for the London
Theatre Company at the Bridge Theatre in June 2018.
Posts
