Rafts and Dreams
| Rafts and Dreams | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Robert Holman |
| Characters |
|
| Date premiered | October 4, 1990 |
| Place premiered | Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | child abuse, rising sea levels |
| Setting | London, a raft at sea, an iceberg, Africa[1] |
Rafts and Dreams is a play by English playwright Robert Holman that was first performed in 1990, and published in 1991.[1]
Plot
[edit]Beginning as a seeming domestic drama,[2] Rafts and Dreams shows the relationship between obsessive-compulsive mysophobe Hetty and her soldier husband Leo, and their neighbour Neil – a victim of childhood sexual abuse who is now studying to be a doctor. However, when Leo and Neil remove a tree stump from Leo's garden they find an underground lake under all London which expands to flood the entire world. Leo makes a raft from their living room and as they float they meet the wife of the man who abused Neil.
Productions
[edit]Rafts and Dreams was first presented at the Royal Court Theatre in 1990. The production was directed by John Dove and the cast was:
Neil Bell – Jonathan Cullen
Hetty – Adie Allen
Leo – Jason Watkins
Jo – Natasha Pyne
Alex – Ilan Ostrove
Woman – Maureen Hibbert
In 2003 the play was revived at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in a production directed by Tim Stark.[3]
Critical reception
[edit]“While digging up the roots of a tree in the garden, Neil, Leo and Hetty uncover a vast underground lake which floods away the world. With Leo at the tiller of his sawn-away living room, the trio begin a voyage over the earth's watery surface … Rafts and Dreams is a surrealist fantasy at its most thought-provoking, a play whose best bits manage (in both senses) to work like a dream.” – Paul Taylor, The Independent.[citation needed]
Encore Theatre Magazine described the play as “one of the great post-war British plays.”[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Holman, Robert (1991). Rafts and Dreams & Outside the Whale. London: Methuen. ISBN 9780413655707.
- ^ Gardner, Lyn (30 September 2003). "'Are my plays any good? I haven't a clue'". The Guardian. Lyn Gardner interviews Robert Holman.
- ^ Gardner, Lyn (8 October 2003). "Across Oka/Rafts and Dreams". The Guardian.
- ^ "Encore Heroes". Encore Theatre Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
Further reading
[edit]- London Theatre Record, Volume 10, Issues 14-26
- Taylor, Paul (22 October 2011). "Theatre: And the outlook is unsettled". The Independent.
Holman's 1990 Royal Court play Rafts and Dreams is, in my view, one of the most underrated dramas of the decade.
- Anderson, Lee (18 November 2014). "Discovering Robert Holman". Exeunt Magazine. Rafts and Dreams is discussed in the context of Holman's other plays.