Far Away
Description
A brilliant and unsettling play from one of the UK's leading dramatists.
At the opening of the play, a young girl is questioning her aunt about having seen her uncle hitting people with an iron bar; by the end, several years later, the whole world is at war - including birds and animals.
Caryl Churchill's play Far Away is a howl of anguish at the increasing—and increasingly accepted—levels of inhumanity in a world seemingly perpetually involved in conflict.
The play was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, in November 2000.
Reviews
"You know you are in the hands of a master. "
- Sunday Times
"A short play, but not a small play: it's global in scope, untethered by time, part fable, part prophecy. .. interlaces the bucolic, the fantastical and the harrowing, pairing [Churchill's] characteristic economy with wild, imaginative flourishes. .. dread-filled, disturbing, and prescient. "
- The Stage
"A dystopia of incomprehensible proportions. .. a masterclass of spare theatrical writing, encompassing tense family drama, political horror story, romance as well as absurdist comedy. "
- A Younger Theatre
"Conjures a devastatingly bleak dystopia. .. every word, every half sentence paints a picture that would make you laugh if it didn't want to make you cry. .. a tiny play, but an immense one. Chilling and thought-provoking. "
- WhatsOnStage
"Perhaps the ultimate fan favourite out of [Churchill's] kaleidoscopic oeuvre. .. revered because of how powerfully and pithily it reads on the page. .. a play to witness Churchill at hurricane force, savage, hilarious, totally unlike anyone else. "
- Time Out
"Caryl Churchill was expected to produce something explosive in Far Away, but. .. she has exceeded the critics' highest expectations. "
- Observer
"A twisted fairy tale that demonstrates [Churchill's] matchless gift for merging the apocalyptic and the fantastical. .. brilliantly absurdist. .. A sliver of genius. "
- Independent