''Elegy'' is a 2016 British play by
Nick Payne
Nick Payne (born 1984) is a British playwright and screenwriter.
Early life and education
Payne studied at the University of York and subsequently at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He is also a graduate of the Royal Court Young Write ...
.
''Elegy'' had its world premiere production at the
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
with an official opening night on 27 April 2016, following previews from 21 April. Its limited run concluded on 18 June 2016.
Josie Rourke
Josie Rourke (born 3 September 1976) is an English theatre and film director. She is a Vice-President of the London Library and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut ...
directed the production, which starred
Zoë Wanamaker as Lorna,
Barbara Flynn
Barbara Flynn (born Barbara Joy McMurray, 5 August 1948) is an English actress. She first came to prominence playing Freda Ashton in the ITV drama series '' A Family at War'' (1970–1972). She went on to play the milk woman in the BBC comedy ...
as Carrie and
Nina Sosanya
Oluwakemi Nina Sosanya (born 6 June 1969) is an English stage, television, film, radio actress and narrator. She is most notable for her roles in ''Teachers'', '' W1A'' and '' Last Tango in Halifax''.
Early life and education
Sosanya was born i ...
as Miriam.
The play was nominated for the 2017
Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.
Plot
In the near future, radical and unprecedented advances in medical science lead to the possibility of augmenting and extending life. Lorna has had surgery to eliminate a brain disease. However, she loses her memory and does not recognize her partner Carrie when they meet after 20 years. In flashbacks, the two are seen during their relationship. Lorna's doctor Miriam is conflicted about the treatment.
Critical reception
''The Guardian'' reviewer said: "Payne probes the moral consequences of scientific progress. At its most moving, the play poses the question of whether love, like religious faith, is a conscious state of mind that can be eradicated: much of the play’s anguish derives from Lorna’s post-op indifference to the devoted Carrie. But, while the play airs big issues such as whether medical advance undercuts the notion of fixed identity, it works because we care deeply about the people."
''The Independent'' reviewer concluded with: "As always with Payne, the structure feels musical – an impression amplified here with repeated extracts from the elegiac poetry of Douglas Dunn and Christopher Reid and by the pointed symbolism of the design. In a glass case, there's a dead, lightning-riven oak tree that's periodically engulfed by fog. Never resorting to sentimentality or melodrama, this is an emotionally gruelling but richly rewarding 75 minutes."
[Taylor, Paul]
" ''Elegy'', Donmar Warehouse, theatre review: 'Emotionally gruelling but richly rewarding'"
''The Independent'', 28 April 2016
References
2016 plays
British plays
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