Shivered

by Philip Ridley

'We can't all just be hurtling through nothing towards nowhere...can we?' A young couple are moving into their new home. A soldier is being held hostage. Two boys are searching for monsters. All these things are connected by both family and time but what story can be told when family and time are broken? Set over the course of twelve years, Shivered unpicks the story of two families and then re-weaves it into something new and startling. Seven people, one war, a derelict car plant and mysterious lights in the sky come together in the Essex new-town of Draylingstowe, where the view from green hills once offered hope and prosperity for all. An oblique and startlingly anachronistic piece, the timeframe is an emotional, rather than linear sequence, reflecting the characters' broken memories and shattered lives. Depicting a panorama of people and time, connecting links of friendship, family and encounters eddy around each other in a tantalising, surprising and intelligent way. Shivered is a state of the nation play meets a dreamlike memory play.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2012

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this play when I went on a tour of the National Theatre in London last fall, because it sounded interesting from the description on the back. I finally got a chance to read it and it was indeed interesting.

The one thing to warn about right off the bat is that the play is not in chronological order. The scenes are numbered as they would be placed if the play was chronological, so you could go through the play and read it in the order that it should take place. But I think the non-chronology of the play makes it that much more profound. Plus, the action leading up to the act break would not be in the right place if the play were in chronological order. Plus, the ending, the way I read it, is more chilling with it not being the actual ending of the story.

I'd really have loved to have seen this staged, just to see how some moments actually played out aside from reading the stage directions. Alas, I don't think that'll be possible, but this is a play that I'd be tempted to pitch somewhere around here to be performed. I don't know how well it would go over for an American audience, though.

Not for nothing, the cover of the book is amazing. It sort of portrays what you're about to read, in that it looks fractured. And really, when you come to think of it, that's kind of like life and memories. Not all memories are in chronological order, nor are they always complete.

I'd highly recommend this play for anyone that is an Anglophile or that likes plays that aren't completely cut-and-dried. This is definitely a play that will stick with me for some time, and one that I'll probably come back to read again.

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishing accomplished, albeit bleak, play that concerns our fragmented society and how time and circumstance can abolish even the most hopeful future. Ridley works wonders by presenting the play in non-chronological order, so that one 'pieces' the play together even as one sees (or in this case reads) it. The 17 scenes are numbered, so that one could go back and read them in order, but the fragmented quality is part of the play's power and meaning. Would love to see this staged... or indeed, direct it myself.

[Full disclosure: I gave the first major lecture in the US on Ridley's work back in 1990 at an ATHE conference, and the author was kind enough to correspond with me and send me some of his (then) unpublished works. I don't think that has influenced my review here, however, as I have not given ALL of his recent work such high marks.]

[Charlie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Philip Ridley's work, so wouldn't usually give a 3, which I consider to be: liked it but probably won't reread. I'm not usually a fan of non-chronological narratives, but in this case the form suited the theme of familial destruction from violence. It has his trademark macabre, graphic imagery, perhaps what you would expect from a fine arts major turned writer. But would I reread it? No. It's perhaps because I like some of his other plays so much, but I can't help but feel this is a relatively quiet play, from an author that excels when his writing has a super saturated quality.

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

DAMN. When I say bleak, I mean bleak. Really interesting read (I think it's my fifth Ridley I've read this year?) and I'm curious how this play would work by not being in chronological order, but I loved how it presented itself on the page. Really dark, really strong.

[Michael Reffold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story with an innovative structure and some pretty good monologues.