Description

'Why do you never speak of the past?'

In present-day Madrid, Camelia stands in the middle of her unkempt garden, trying to remember something. Her twin children live with her, bearing the responsibility of her care with the same laziness with which they tend the garden. When they hire a live-in carer, his presence threatens a family unit already at breaking point.

In 1968, under Franco's regime, Margarita fears for the life of her son Juan, whose university activism has garnered the attention of a government official. When she shows up at the official's house, her presence threatens to unearth truths which the regime has attempted to stifle. When forgetting the crimes of the past is enshrined in the law, what does it take for a family to reckon with generations of secrets?

This edition includes a Spanish language version of the play translated by Jorge Muriel.

'A complex work from a masterful writer.'—Artshub

'Epic in its transgenerational scope and the profundity of its questions, yet it also shrinks to taut family drama'—Sydney Morning Herald

Biography

Andrew Bovell

ANDREW BOVELL is a writer renowned for his work in theatre, film, and television. His theatre credits include Song of First Desire (Belvoir), Canción Del Primer Deseo, (Teatro La Abadia, Madrid), Things I Know to Be True (Belvoir St Theatre, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Frantic Assembly, Black Swan Theatre, Teatro Stabile Turino), Anthem (Melbourne Arts Centre, Sydney and Perth Festivals), an adaptation of The Secret River (Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Edinburgh Festival, National Theatre London), When the Rain Stops Falling (Brink, Adelaide Festival, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, Lincoln Centre, NYC) His screen credits include, A Most Wanted Man, Edge of Darkness, Blessed, Lantana, based on his award-winning stage play Speaking in Tongues, and Head On. Andrew has received the David Williamson Prize for The Secret River, and the AWGIE Best Stage Play for Speaking in Tongues, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class, Holy Day and When the Rain Stops Falling. This play won Five Lucille Lortell awards in New York, and was named Time Magazines Nest New Play. Lantana won seven AFI Awards, the AWGIE for Best Screenplay, and five Film Critics’ Circle of Australia Awards.