The Children Tickets

The acclaimed Royal Court Theatre production of Lucy Kirkwood's The Children makes the trip over the pond for an American premiere, courtesy of the Manhattan Theatre Club. The original London stars - BAFTA Award winner Francesca Annis, Olivier Award nominee Ron Cook, and Olivier Award winner Deborah Findlay - are all reprising their respective roles in New York at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Expertly acted with unassuming naturalism, the trio of actors tell a story that gradually unfolds to reveal that the stakes could not be any higher. The banal setting of a room inside a British cottage, courtesy of Miriam Buether's bleakly realistic design, juxtaposes with the chaos of "exlcusion zones," contamination and radiation we learn is ensuing in the outside world. Playwright Lucy Kirkwood's slow-burning and captivating drama drip-feeds us the details about the disastrous events that have led to our three protagonists' current predicament and keeps us guessing about their shared histories and the reason for their sudden reunion. Kirkwood lowers our defenses by her naturalistic style of dialogue and awkwardly played small-talk until she finally reveals her hand, consuming us in the gravity of the situation and the decision these characters must make.

In our current climate where political leaders attempt to devalue climate change, The Children could not have picked a more appropriate time to land on Broadway. With a sense of foreboding, the play highlights the sins of our generation by using the microcosm of one British nuclear power station and poses the question if we - the guilty party - should be forced to sacrifice ourselves for the good of innocent, future generations.       

The Children marks the Broadway debut for playwright Lucy Kirkwood.

^{(Photos by Joan Marcus)}