I’m a big fan of the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright (and Oscar-nominated actor) Sam Shepard. How wonderful to be able to see and discuss one of his late plays, Ages of the Moon, which now receives its UK premiere two years after Shepard passed away (on 27 July 2017 at the age of 73).
Shepard’s many other plays include Fool for Love, A Lie of the Mind, The God of Hell, The Late Henry Moss and Buried Child (for which he received the Pulitzer Prize in 1979), all of which have had productions in London in recent years.
Shepard wrote Ages of the Moon for the Irish actors Stephen Rea and Sean McGinley. The two-hander premiered in 2009 at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin before transferring to New York. Alexander Lass directs this new production starring Christopher Fairbank and Joseph Marcell.
On a hot summer’s night, deep in the American wilderness, Byron and Ames are reunited by mutual desolation. By the fading light of an eclipsing moon, the pair reflect on love, life and a forty-year friendship over a bottle of whiskey.
Shepard did not specify the ethnicity of the two old friends in his play. At the post-show talk I chaired with the production’s director and stars after only their second preview, it was so interesting to hear from Joseph Marcell about his experience, as a black British actor (who has also lived for many years in the US), performing for the first time a modern American play not written from an African-American perspective. We also discussed Shepard’s legacy, Beckettian influences and the challenges and rewards of portraying his characters.
Ages of the Moon makes a fascinating counterpart to Alexander Lass and producer Debbie Hicks‘ other current production in the adjacent tunnel at The Vaults, the revival of David Hare‘s politically charged British play The Permanent Way, for which I chaired a Q&A last month.
Q&A video
More from the Q&A
Don't miss our live-tweeting from Ages of the Moon post-show talk, plus more photos and video.
Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. Terri is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent, The Times and other national publications. She is renowned for her 'legendary' post-show Q&As and also produces the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatre, producers and other clients. She tweets about theatre at @TerriPaddock.
