Apocalyptic play The Divide, a new work by Alan Ayckbourn, will preview at The Old Vic from 30 January 2018, opening on 3 February 2018, following its premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival this summer.
Set in the aftermath of a deadly contagion, The Divide is a tale that unflinchingly explores a dystopian society of repression, insurrection and forbidden love. The show, presented in two parts, will be directed by Annabel Bolton, an Associate Director of The Old Vic.
A century from now, the English population lies decimated, and contagion has rendered contact between men and women fatal. Under the dictates of an elusive Preacher, an unthinkable solution is enforced. Separated by the Divide, the adult survivors are segregated by gender, as men wear white as a mark of their purity, and women – still infected – are clothed in black as a sign of their sin.
Brother and sister Elihu (Jake Davies – previously seen in Black Mirror) and Soween (Erin Doherty – best known for Call The Midwife) grow up learning the ways of their tightly controlled society. As they begin to glimpse the cracks in the system, Elihu falls for Giella (Weruche Opia – Cleopatra in television’s Bad Education), the daughter of two radical mothers, risking fatal disease and threatening to ignite a bloody revolution. The Divide is a vision of a dystopian future defined by brutal repression and forbidden love.
The cast also includes Clare Burt (Flowers For Mrs Harris, for which she received the 2016 UK Theatre Award) as Hork, Thusitha Jayasundera (War Horse, National Theatre) as Kest, Richard Katz (The Encounter, Broadway) as Conrad, Joanne McGuiness (Spuds, Oran Mor) as Axi, Sophie Melville (Iphigenia In Splott, National Theatre) as Sassa, Clare Lawrence Moody (Home Chat, Finborough Theatre) as Desollia, Martin Quinn (Let The Right One In, Apollo Theatre) as Fergo, Letty Thomas as Ensemble, Sian Thomas (The Cherry Orchard, Arcola Theatre) as Older Soween, and Finty Williams (The Vote, Donmar) as Chayza.
The Old Vic has a long history with the International Festival, having performed at the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947 and many times in the following decade. This collaboration with EIF is the first of several brokered by The Old Vic to mark the bicentenary of the theatre in 2018.
Matthew Warchus said of the show: “‘Alan Ayckbourn is of course famous for his domestic tragi-comedies. It is perhaps overlooked the extent to which he is a great and perpetual experimenter with form.”
“Now as he turns 78 he delivers an extraordinary piece of writing which arguably may not even be a play – The Divide – described on its title page as “a dramatic narrative for voices”.
For more information, and to book your tickets, visit the venue’s website.