Love,loss chinati 04a

Thirty20 Theatre in association with Chichester Festival Theatre presents

Thirty20 Theatre is grateful to the following for their support of this production: With thanks to:

Richard and Roz Upton ITD Consultants

Jonathan Church, Alan Finch, Shonagh Manson, Jon Opie, Phyllida Earle, Louise Bangay, Kathryn Maris, Poetry London Magazine, Joseph Pierce, James Roxburgh, 59 Productions, Craig Raine, Claire Lowden, Jonathan Kinnersley, Sue Latimer, Claire Comiskey, Helen Schlesinger, Stephen Fry, Jo Fry, Simon Berry, Mark Chichester Clark, Kate McAll, Marilyn Imrie, Kirk Woodley, Paul Jepson, Susannah Herbert, Philippa King, George Sharpley, Lucinda Grant, Karen Walker, Antonia Christie, Griff Rhys Jones, Mary Roscoe, Jan Ravens, Giovanni’s of Covent Garden, Lucy Ockenden and This World Productions, Kieron Vanstone and The Vaults, White Light, Stage Sound Services.

A double bill by

Christopher Reid Devised for the stage by Robert Bathurst

Graphic Design Raphael Whittle

Directed by Jason Morell

Robert Bathurst Dorothea Vogel

With

Caroline Faber Vanessa Lucas-Smith

Music for “A Scattering” composed by Tom Smail Animation for “The Song Of Lunch” designed by Charles Peattie Show Designer Timothy Bird Lighting Design Colin Grenfell Sound Design Gregory Clarke Stage Management Rebecca Maltby Costume Supervisor Sydney Florence General Management Eleanor Lloyd Tom Powis

A Scattering was completed in the three years that followed the death of my wife, Lucinda, in October 2005. It is a book of loss, grief, memory and loving celebration and it falls into four parts. The first, written for Lucinda herself when she knew she had only a short time to live, was begun during our last holiday together, on Crete. The second, describing her bravery in the hospice where she died, came roughly six months after her death. The third is a more miscellaneous set of meditations on bereavement. The final section finds me addressing Lucinda directly and somehow bringing matters to a conclusion. As it happens, Lucinda was an actor, so I can’t say that the theatre was a long way from my mind as I wrote the poems, but their journey from grief, via book publication, to presentation on the stage remains a surprise. An apt and pleasing one. – CR

As soon as I finished A Scattering – the very next day, in fact – I began work on The Song of Lunch. What I had in mind was a piece of pure comedy, a light farce that might provide an antidote to the grief in which I had been forcibly immersed for three years. I should have known better. The story, from its conception, was destined for dark places, as I soon came to understand.

The farce would have a bitter flavour to it, and my hero would turn out to be, like Orpheus in pursuit of his dead wife, Eurydice, on a quest doomed to fail.

I wonder now if, just as A Scattering could only find its shape as the pace of grieving allowed, The Song of Lunch was dictated by some higher imperative of which I was only partially aware. Comedy, at any rate, tells its own truths. – CR

Performed by Robert Bathurst Dorothea Vogel (viola) Vanessa Lucas-Smith (cello)

Running time approx 50 mins

HIM Robert Bathurst HER Caroline Faber

Composer Tom Smail A Scattering Animation Design and Direction Timothy Bird

Running time approx 50 mins

The Song of Lunch Animation Design and Direction Charles Peattie Video and Animation Associate Letty Fox Assistant Animation Direction / Production Phoebe Halstead Animators Ana Garcia Barry Evans Phoebe Halstead 3D Animation Trevor Harvey for Lucky 23 Additional Studio Management Lucy Ockenden Visual Engineering, Lead Programmer, Production Electrician John McGarrigle Production Sound Engineer Helen Atkinson Scenic Tailoring Prompt Side Scenic Supervisor Harriet Darling for Darling & Edge