Arcola theatre, London
Running time: 2hrs 5min
Age Restrictions: This production is recommended for ages 12+.
Tickets from £19.00
Adapted for the stage by Booker Prize-winning author Samantha Harvey (Orbital) from the beloved novel by Barbara Pym, this is a wry and poignant ode to ageing, friendship and the strange poetry of everyday life.
In 1970s London, four co-workers approach retirement, each quietly marking time. As the seasons turn, they go about their daily rituals and routines. Marcia (Pooky Quesnel, The A Word) hoards tinned food and drifts into solitude. Letty (Kate Duchêne, The Worst Witch) dreams of something more. Edwin (Anthony Calf, New Tricks), a widower, finds refuge in the church. Norman (Paul Rider, Don’t Destroy Me) rails against modern life. Together, they form a quartet – a fragile compact to get through the days.
Marking the first ever stage adaptation of Barbara Pym’s Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, this is a world premiere directed by Dominic Dromgoole, former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe and the Bush Theatre.
Quartet in Autumn unfolds as a sharp, witty and keenly observed portrait of loneliness in a changing world, of the courage it takes to keep going, and the grace that can be found in the ordinary.
Arcola theatre
Arcola theatre
24 Ashwin Street, Dalston
London
E8 3DL