Eclipse

by John Morton

'It's hard to imagine things getting back to normal after this though. I don't suppose they do from now on, not really.' 

In the kitchen of an old Devon rectory, the daughter who stayed and the son who moved away make conversation with their current and former partners, the milkman, the postman, the care workers. They talk about the weather, the roads, the toaster, the bins. About anything except the simmering tensions between them, as their father lies mortally ill in the next room.

Until the unspoken emotions and conflicts of years boil over.

Eclipse is a painfully funny, acute and delicate play about our struggle to communicate, in the face of life and of death – and our infinite capacity for drinking tea. It was first performed in the Minerva Theatre at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2026, written and directed by John Morton.

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2026

About the author

John Morton is an Olympic skier and writer from the United States. He was born in Keene, New Hampshire. Morton has participated as an athlete, coach, and team leader in seven Olympic Games for the United States in the biathlon event.