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Yes, that was the name of the play we saw on Saturday. I'm a big fan of Anne-Marie Duff, so I was very keen to get to see her on stage again, this time at the Almeida Theatre.
The play is a new one, written by Ella Hickson. The theme is indeed Oil, from initial production back in the 1890s to its projected exhaustion. The concept takes one woman, May, played by Anne-Marie Duff, and moves her forward through a total of five significant times. I found the idea gripping, May ages slightly in each era, but not as much as the difference in the time periods, and each time her background and role changes to fit in with the time - but May herself remains the same person, rather like a series of AUs.
She has a daughter, who similarly ages slowly, from 'bump' to child, to teen, to twenties, to fifties. The daughter, Amy, was played by Yolanda Kettle. Part of the story is that of the difficult relationship between mother and daughter and how the mother seeks to protect her child, while at the same time ensuring her own wishes should be met.
There are a lot of questions asked - the nature of imperialism, the right to resources etc, but whilst the questions are there, the audience are left to make their own decisions.
We (my two friends and I) all agreed it was an excellent play, and Anne-Marie Duff was once again totally convincing, even though not generally a likeable character. It's not a play which is easy to explain to someone who hasn't seen it - it needs to be experienced - which might be why some of the reviews weren't especially positive. The premise sounds strange but worked very well. And it was a play with a female writer, director and main character.
The play is a new one, written by Ella Hickson. The theme is indeed Oil, from initial production back in the 1890s to its projected exhaustion. The concept takes one woman, May, played by Anne-Marie Duff, and moves her forward through a total of five significant times. I found the idea gripping, May ages slightly in each era, but not as much as the difference in the time periods, and each time her background and role changes to fit in with the time - but May herself remains the same person, rather like a series of AUs.
She has a daughter, who similarly ages slowly, from 'bump' to child, to teen, to twenties, to fifties. The daughter, Amy, was played by Yolanda Kettle. Part of the story is that of the difficult relationship between mother and daughter and how the mother seeks to protect her child, while at the same time ensuring her own wishes should be met.
There are a lot of questions asked - the nature of imperialism, the right to resources etc, but whilst the questions are there, the audience are left to make their own decisions.
We (my two friends and I) all agreed it was an excellent play, and Anne-Marie Duff was once again totally convincing, even though not generally a likeable character. It's not a play which is easy to explain to someone who hasn't seen it - it needs to be experienced - which might be why some of the reviews weren't especially positive. The premise sounds strange but worked very well. And it was a play with a female writer, director and main character.
