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Five Kinds of Silence

Written by Shelagh Stephenson
Directed by Chris Loveless

29 Jan 2013 to 17 Feb 2013
White Bear Theatre, London

"One night I dreamt I was a dog. The moon was out, I could smell it. Ice white metal smell. I could smell the paving stones, wet, sharp. The tarmac road made my dog teeth tingle, it was aniseed, rubber, and then the lampposts, glittering with smells, they were, studded with jewels of sharp sweet spice, wood, metal, meat. And the stars pierced my dog nose like silver wires. A woman came out of her house, sickly the smell of her, rotten, she smelt of armpits and babies and a hundred other things screaming at me like a brass band. I knew what she'd had for her tea. I knew she was pregnant. I could smell it. She didn't look at me, walked straight on by, thought I was just a dog. I laughed a quiet dog laugh, you think I'm a dog but I'm Billy, I'm me."

Incest. Madness. Murder.

Shelagh Stephenson's terrifying story of the implosion of a family.

'Five Kinds of Silence' ran for three weeks at the White Bear in Kennington receiving excellent reviews and, as usual, superb audience feedback.

Show photos

© Michael Brydon

© Michael Brydon

© Michael Brydon

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Cast

Olivia Dennis - Susan
Violet Ryder - Janet
Anthony Hoskyns - Ensemble
Zach Lee - Billy
Tessa Wood - Mary

Crew

Director - Chris Loveless
Designer - Laura Clark
Lighting Design and Stage Management - Paul Micah
Photography - Michael Brydon
Sound - Hoxa

Reviews

" . . it's an unrelentingly grim experience, but one which retains a sense of hope in the human spirit. Director Chris Loveless gets the balance just right."
     Giles Cole, Whatsonstage

"This extraordinary production . . has pin-drop attention and passionate applause from the full-house first-night audience so if you're anywhere near London, book while you can."
 Crysse Morrison, Plays International

"It requires particular courage of an actor to play the kind of unreconstructed psychopath we meet in Billy - Zach Lee more than rises to the challenge. His performance is pure lean, musclebound menace, shot through with an equally disturbing seam of vulnerability. There's some good work from the rest of the cast, too - particularly Violet Ryder as the elder daughter, Janet - and the writing contains some beautiful lyrical passages. Stephenson's play is a brave expose of abuse which, as its title implies, too often remains hidden behind veils of silence."
 Laura Barnett, Time Out