TIME OUT CRITICS CHOICE * * * *
WHY PAY YOUR DEBTS?
WHEN YOU CAN SWINDLE EVERYONE ELSE INSTEAD!
A Family Affair is a scathing farce about the Russian merchant class, where the swindler is swindled and every cross is a double cross. This wonderfully boisterous, scurrilously funny satire will explode on the expansive Arcola stage accompanied by original music. Performed live by BOW&BELLOWS.
Wonderfully boisterous, scurrilously funny and bitingly irreverent, A Family Affair, adapted by multi-award-winning playwright Nick Dear, is a stinging play about greed, corruption and the desire to climb the social ladder whatever the cost.
When written, by Alexander Ostrovsky in 1850, A Family Affair caused an absolute uproar, and caused this remarkable and hillarious satire to be banned for more than thirty years. The government censor was heard to cry ‘The characters are first rate villains, the dialogue is filthy, the entire play is an insult to the Russian merchant class!’ . What better recommendation can there be for this play? Perfectly tuned to reflect the society of Tzar Nicholas I and strikingly resonant with ours today.through their lives with devastating effects
Alexander OstrovskyTranslated by Nick Dear
Reviews
Evening Standard Critics’ Choice * * * *
BABUSHKA WEEK!Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th December
Join us for an exciting series of free foyer events at the Arcola Bar.
Celebrate a winter wonderland of Russian entertainement including: Readings of Ostrovsky play (4pm everyday), pre-show DJ’s Penny Metal and Seb Merrick KAZUM! playing Russian and Balkan music and post-show live Gypsy, Klezmer and Eastern European bands.
BABUSHKA Readings
The Forest, translated by Alan Ayckbourn directed by Chris Rolls on Wednesday, 13th Dec
Crazy Money, translated by Stephen Mulrine directed by Fiona Morell on Thursday, 14th Dec
Artistes and Admirers, translated by Stephen Mulrine directed by Daniel Evans on Friday, 15th Dec
Wolves and Sheep, translated by Stephen Mulrine directed by Anne Tipton on Saturday, 16th Dec
THESE EVENTS ARE ALL FREE OF CHARGE. Please ring box office for availability. No booking required.
Organized by Doublethink Theatre
