''Vincent River'' is a one act stage play by
Philip Ridley
Philip Ridley (born 1957 in East London) is an English storyteller working in a wide range of artistic media.
As a visual artist he has been cited as a contemporary of the 'Young British Artists', and had his artwork exhibited internationally. ...
. It was Ridley's fourth stage play for adults and premiered at the
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 6 September 2000. The production was the last major collaboration between Ridley and director Mathew Lloyd, who had previously directed the majority of Ridley's other theatrical works.
It is believed that the play in part draws from Ridley's unpublished radio play ''October Scars the Skin'' which was broadcast on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
on 16 January 1989. The story like ''Vincent River'' involved a mother of a murdered homosexual who befriends his son's lover and also featured a character called Vincent.
Listing for ''October Scars the Skin'' on the BBC website
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Plot
The story plays out in realtime and is set in a rundown flat in Dagenham.
There a woman called Anita is moving in following the death of Vincent, her son who was killed in a homophobic attack which resulted in her discovering that he was a homosexual in the aftermath of his murder.
In the play we see her interact with Davey, a boy who claims to have been the first to find Vincent's corpse and who wants to know as much as he can about Vincent from Anita.
Notable Stage Productions
On Film
In 2005 Marianne Epin and Cyrille Thouvenin starred in the play at the Théâtre du Marais
The Théâtre du Marais has been the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France. The original and most famous theatre of the name operated in the 17th century. The name was briefly revived for a revolutionary theatre in 1791 ...
in Paris, which was also filmed and released as a television movie. It is available on region 2 DVD.
The play has been compared to the 2014 film, Lilting
Lilting is a form of traditional singing common in the Goidelic speaking areas of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Mann. It goes under many names, and is sometimes referred to as ''diddling'' (generally in England and Scotland), ''mouth music' ...
, starring Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor and producer. After winning a British Independent Film Award for his performance in ''My Brother Tom'' (2001), he was nominated for an Olivier Award for his portrayal of the titl ...
, Cheng Pei Pei and Andrew Leung
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen (; born 24 February 1951) is a Hong Kong politician who is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Industrial (First) functional constituency. From October 2012 to October ...
and written and directed by Hong Khaou
Hong Khaou (born 22 October 1975) is a Cambodian-British film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his debut feature film '' Lilting'' and the short films ''Summer'' and ''Spring''.
Early life
Khaou was born in Cambodia to Chinese- ...
. The story similar to the play is about a man who approaches the mother of his deceased gay lover to try and connect and understand their loss.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Interview from 2010 with Philip Ridley for Time Out London about ''Vincent River'' and homophobic violence in London
{{Philip Ridley
2000 plays
Plays by Philip Ridley
One-act plays
Two-handers
LGBT-related plays
Plays set in London