My City

Description

Heralding a return to the stage for renowned dramatist Stephen Poliakoff, My City is a lyrical exploration of storytelling, interwoven personal and political histories, memory and the ties of the past. Beautifully atmospheric and infused with a sense of yearning nostalgia, the play presents a series of strange, seemingly coincidental encounters with others which evoke momentous trends in the city they live in and the shifts of society throughout history. Two former school friends are reunited with their erstwhile teacher, the glamorous, gracious Miss Lambert who is now engaged in nightly pilgrimages on foot across London as an antidote to her chronic insomnia. In the course of these nocturnal journeys, she witnesses a paradigmatic range of incidents reflecting today's society: the kindness and the violence, the glut of discarded rubbish and the sanctity of that which is carefully preserved, as well as the ghostly vestiges of the past. My City contains all the hallmarks of Poliakoff's best writing: high in style and sustained mood, the play tells stories of the past with melodic descriptions, cinematic scope and aesthetic preciseness.

Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL, is an acclaimed playwright, director and screenwriter and is recognised as one of the UK's leading dramatists. His most recent work includes a number of high-profile and critically acclaimed TV dramas: The Lost Prince (BBC, 2003) winner of three Emmy Awards, Friends and Crocodiles (BBC, 2005), Gideon's Daughter (BBC, 2006) winner of two Golden Globes and a Peabody Award, Joe's Palace and Capturing Mary (BBC, 2007) and Glorious 39 (2009).

There is richness here: themes of nostalgia, of a city haunted by its past, of confidence and hope and the sadness of children's freshness evaporating into common day and compromise. -- Libby Purves * The Times * The play's tour of London by night involves many discrete, intriguing stories; the play, like much of Poliakoff's work, makes you look at the metropolis with fresh eyes. -- Michael Billington * Guardian *