James Saunders   |   bibliography

Fall  -  by James Saunders (1980)

Commissioned and first staged by the Orange Tree Theatre (Richmond, Surrey England).

Presented at the Hampstead Theatre (London, England) on 6th September 1984 with the following cast -

    ROCHE (FOX)
ANN
HELEN
KATE
MARY
   -    Roland Oliver
   -    Sylvestra le Touzel
   -    Julie Covington
   -    Cecily Hobbs
   -    Gwen Watford
    Directed by Robin Lefevre
Decor by Sue Plummer
Lighting by Leo Leibovici

Won the Molière Award after its Paris production (1988?).

The play is set in a suburban garden on an afternoon in late summer

Time - the present



© 1984 James Saunders
published by Samuel French (London, England), 1985
ISBN-10: 057311076X
ISBN-13: 978-0573110764



"On an Indian summer day three sisters, Kate, Helen and Ann, meet at the house of their mother Mary to await the death of their father. During the afternoon the three girls talk, sometimes bickering, to each other and to their mother, gradually revealing the complexities of their lives. Ann lives in a squat in Bristol and is heavily pregnant with the baby of a rock musician; she is flippant, carefree and refuses to recognize her situation as a problem: Kate seeks endlessly to find herself and an end to uncertainty via I Ching, Zen, yoga etc: Helen, childless and with a failed marriage behind her, tries to solve the problems of others through Marxism and social work. Their mother has the ability and clear sight to keep her worries in perspective. Throughout, Fox, the observer's comments give depth and tone to the atmosphere. This is a play which requires and more than repays a high degree of concentration from all involved in viewing, reading and performing it."

(from Samuel French 1984)



"..the three character-studies of the sisters are masterly.. The play is a beautiful still life" - Financial Times

"James Saunders has a spiky pen and a provocative mind" - Standard


James Saunders   |   bibliography


comments to: weed@wussu.com
revised 4 February 2007
URL: http://www.jamessaunders.org/jsfall.htm