Eugène Ionesco

Martin Crimp

Royal Court Theatre

Theatre de Complicite (Theatrical troupe)

In a house on an island a very old couple pass their time with private games and half-remembered stories. With brilliant eccentricity, Ionesco's 'tragic farce' combines a comic portrait of human folly with a magical experiment in theatrical possibilities.

The Chairs

Attempts on Her Life

Go on then: lock the doors and see what happens. Show me how much power you really have. When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other breaks through the surface of contemporary debate to explore the messy, often violent nature of desire and the fluid, complicated roles that men and women play. Using Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela as a provocation, six characters act out a dangerous game of sexual domination and resistance. When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other premiered at the National Theatre, London, in January 2019.

When We Have Sufficiently Torture

A genius with language, but convinced of his own ugliness, Cyrano secretly loves the radiant Roxane. While Roxane is in love with the beautiful but inarticulate Christian. Cyrano's generous offer to act as go-between sets in motion a poignant and often hilarious love-triangle, in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction and the seductive power of words. Martin Crimp's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in November 2019.

In a Free Adaptation

Cyrano de Bergerac

Plays

Fewer Emergencies 'Things are definitely looking up--brighter light--more frequent boating--more confident smile--things are improving day by day--who ever would've guessed?' Fewer Emergencies premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2005.

Fewer Emergencies

Pierre Marivaux

Are you really surprised to discover that a woman might have a mind of her own? When Lélio thinks he can ditch and cash in on the rich woman he has promised to marry, in order to become the husband of an even wealthier 'girl from Paris', he enlists the help of his attractive new friend, the Chevalier. What he doesn't know is that the Chevalier is none other than this same 'girl from Paris' disguised as a man, and that her project is to publicly expose the depths of his sexual cynicism. A self-declared 'modern', Marivaux is a pioneer in the exploration of human feeling, asking in this play not only what do we hide from others? - but what are we hiding from ourselves? Martin Crimp's version of Pierre Marivaux's The False Servant received its premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2004 and was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, in June 2022. 'Marivaux's scepticism, irony and fascination with money and sex make him seem peculiarly modern.' Guardian 'Thrills, chills, and belly laughs - this addictively adult comedy has got the lot.' Daily Telegraph

The False Servant

Clair wants to be kissed - but not now - and certainly not by her husband. Chris wants to celebrate his new job by driving into the oncoming traffic. Jenny arrives to complain about the screaming children - but the garden's empty, and the key to the playroom's disappeared. Just what strange game is being played here?

The City

Are you really surprised to discover that a woman might have a mind of her own? When Lélio thinks he can ditch and cash in on the rich woman he has promised to marry, in order to become the husband of an even wealthier 'girl from Paris', he enlists the help of his attractive new friend, the Chevalier. What he doesn't know is that the Chevalier is none other than this same 'girl from Paris' disguised as a man, and that her project is to publicly expose the depths of his sexual cynicism. A self-declared 'modern', Marivaux is a pioneer in the exploration of human feeling, asking in this play not only what do we hide from others, but what are we hiding from ourselves? Martin Crimp's version of Pierre Marivaux's The False Servant received its premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2004 and was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, in June 2022. 'Marivaux's scepticism, irony and fascination with money and sex make him seem peculiarly modern.' Guardian 'Thrills, chills, and belly laughs - this addictively adult comedy has got the lot.' Daily Telegraph

Far away a battle rages and an entire city is turned to dust. Amelia can't sleep. She waits for news of her husband. He's a great general and this seems to be a decisive victory. But when the motives for the war start to look disturbingly personal, his wife becomes desperate to hold on to his love.Martin Crimp's new play takes Sophocles' ancient story of marriage and violence - 'The Trachiniae' - and propels it into a modern world of political hypocrisy and emotional terrorism.Cruel and Tender was produced by Wiener Festwochen, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Young Vic, where it opened in London before premiering at the 2004 Vienna Festival.

After Sophocles' Trachiniae

Cruel and Tender

Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux

I may be your servant in the theatre, but in real life, sweetheart, you are my sex-slave. Just you remember.Lust and avarice trample on the finer feelings of love in this subversive take on sexual manners and the cruelties of courtship. The man thinks that marriage is simply a matter of money and property. But just how far should the woman go to prove him wrong?A world of darker meaning lies beneath the wit and verbal exuberance of Martin Crimp's new version of Marivaux's great comedy.

Molière

Alceste abhors hypocrisy and the well-rehearsed, sycophantic pleasantries of the chattering classes. But having savaged Covington - a theatre critic who thinks he can write plays - Alceste goes on to attack Jennifer, the woman he really loves. What if his determination to tell the truth proves more destructive than their instinct to avoid it? Moliere's greatest comedy, Le Misanthrope (1666), with its fierce argument between conformity and non-conformity, is reworked in this blistering, contemporary version by Martin Crimp.

The Misanthrope

New York. A film studio. A young woman has an urgent story to tell. But here, people are products, movies are money and sex sells. And the rights to your life can be a dangerous commodity to exploit.

The Treatment

Cruel and Tender 'A mordantly knowing modernisation of Sophocles's Trachiniae... . The approach here manages to be at once lethally level and capable of surges of anguished feeling... Highly recommended.' Independent Fewer Emergencies 'A triptych of vicious modern fairy tales that brings the nightmare right back and stabs you through the soul.'Guardian The City 'Although this is the most disquieting play in London, there is a curious exhilaration about both the performance and Crimp's confrontation with our perpetual unease.' Guardian Definitely the Bahamas 'A summation of a life lived vicariously, at the margins of other lives, between suffocating suburban walls; and the play is as unflinching as it is unnerving.' The Times Play House 'Play House concerns the volatility and vulnerability of love, as a young couple, Simon and Katrina set up home... Unusually for Crimp, the play both begins and ends with moving declarations of love. Suddenly this usually chilly dramatist seems unexpectedly blessed with a warm heart.' Daily Telegraph In the Republic of Happiness 'Crimp goes so far as to call it "an entertainment in three parts," and it rocks along like a dystopian vaudeville... The actors are imprisoned and liberated at once, their strange between-worlds condition a source of joy, intemperateness and above all a care for our diversion... My favourite play of the year.'What's on Stage

Martin Crimp

Books

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