The Breath of Life (play)
Encyclopedia
The Breath of Life is a play by dramatist David Hare
. It tells the story of a woman who is confronted by the wife of her lover. Over the course of one day and one night, the two women reflect on their lives and the relationship with the central, yet offstage, male character.
Of the central theme of the play, Hare wrote "You can no longer call it middle age, and you certainly can't call it old age. It's something in between... I wanted to describe two women at exactly that moment; a long past behind them, but the expectation of a considerable future in front of them."
It took Hare a full 12 months to write the play.
The play was premiered at the Royal Haymarket Theatre London
on the 4 October and directed by Howard Davies with the following cast:
Frances Beale - Judi Dench
Madeleine Palmer - Maggie Smith
.
The American premiere of the play was held as a part of the 2009 Peterborough Players season July 1–12 . It was also performed by the Gloucester Stage Company with Nancy E. Carroll and Paula Plum July 23-Aug. 2 .
David Hare (dramatist)
Sir David Hare is an English playwright and theatre and film director.-Early life:Hare was born in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, the son of Agnes and Clifford Hare, a sailor. He was educated at Lancing, an independent school in West Sussex, and at Jesus College, Cambridge...
. It tells the story of a woman who is confronted by the wife of her lover. Over the course of one day and one night, the two women reflect on their lives and the relationship with the central, yet offstage, male character.
Of the central theme of the play, Hare wrote "You can no longer call it middle age, and you certainly can't call it old age. It's something in between... I wanted to describe two women at exactly that moment; a long past behind them, but the expectation of a considerable future in front of them."
It took Hare a full 12 months to write the play.
The play was premiered at the Royal Haymarket Theatre London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on the 4 October and directed by Howard Davies with the following cast:
Frances Beale - Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
Madeleine Palmer - Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
.
The American premiere of the play was held as a part of the 2009 Peterborough Players season July 1–12 . It was also performed by the Gloucester Stage Company with Nancy E. Carroll and Paula Plum July 23-Aug. 2 .