The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Stellar Quines, and Scottish Dance Theatre present the world premiere of
The Lover
By Marguerite Duras. Adapted for the stage by Fleur Darkin and Jemima Levick.
Co-directed by Fleur Darkin and Jemima Levick. Dramaturgy by David Greig
20 January – 3 February 2018
Serendipitously coinciding with the return of Miss Saigon at The Festival Theatre in the new year, The Royal Lyceum will stage the world premiere of the The Lover set in 1920s French colonial Vietnam.
‘Very early in my life it was too late’
It is 1929, and while crossing the Mekong Delta to return to her boarding school in Saigon, a fifteen year old French girl catches the eye of a wealthy twenty-seven year old son of a Chinese delinquent millionaire. Accepting a ride in his chauffeured limousine, she has no idea how this chance meeting will transform her life forever.
Set against the backdrop of French colonial Vietnam, their relationship erupts and is extinguished quickly, but the passion, fury, confusion and desire between them will continue to be felt for decades to come.
Now presented in a thrilling collaboration between The Lyceum, Stellar Quines and Scottish Dance Theatre, the smouldering heat of new relationships, family politics, and long Saigon summers are brought to life on the stage for the first time, through the fusion of dance and words. Bringing together Stellar Quines and Scottish Dance Theatre for the first time, The Lover promises to be a visually lavish story that spans generations and cultures, showing love in all its complicated forms.
A unique collaboration between The Lyceum, Stellar Quines, and Scottish Dance Theatre, the production brings together two of Scotland’s leading female Artistic Directors for the first time, in the first ever UK stage adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ seminal work.
The Lover is a sensual adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel by the same name. Written by Marguerite Duras and set in 1920s Vietnam, and details her affair as a teenager with an older, wealthy Chinese man. The play also takes inspiration from Duras’ later novel, The North China Lover, a fascinating retelling of the dramatic experiences of her adolescence.
Adapted for the stage by Jemima Levick and Fleur Darkin, The Lover is polyglot – the production will fuse spoken word and intimate dance, as well as the French and English languages, in a performance by actors and dancers
