Arlington

by Enda Walsh

A strange, tender love story from the author of Disco Pigs and The Walworth Farce . In a waiting room, inside a tower, Isla waits for her number to be called. A young woman finally understands her fate. And a young man faces a stark decision. In the midst of a bleak and terrifying world, Arlington is a compelling ode to the human spirit and its power to endure. It premiered at Galway International Arts Festival in 2016 in a production by the festival and Landmark Productions, directed by the playwright. Arlington is published in this edition alongside three short theatre installations – Kitchen , A Girl's Bedroom and Room 303 – performed at Galway International Arts Festival under the collective title Rooms .

Genres: Plays, Theatre

101 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2016

About the author

Enda Walsh (born 1967) is an Irish playwright born in Dublin and currently living in London. Walsh attended the same secondary school where both Roddy Doyle and Paul Mercier taught. Having written for the Dublin Youth Theatre, he moved to Cork where he wrote Fishy Tales for the Graffiti Theatre Company, followed by Ginger Ale Boy for Corcadorca Theatre Company. His main breakthrough came with the production of his play Disco Pigs in collaboration with director Pat Kiernan of Corcadorca. Since then he moved to London, where he has been particularly prolific over the past five years, bringing his productions to thirteen stage plays, two radio plays and two screenplays.

Winner of the 1997 Stewart Parker and the George Devine Awards, he won the Abbey Theatre Writer in Association Award for 2006. Productions of his plays at the Edinburgh Festival have won four Fringe First Awards, two Critic's Awards and a Herald Archangel Award (2008). His plays, notably Disco Pigs[1], Bedbound, Small Things, Chatroom, New Electric Ballroom[2] and The Walworth Farce, have been translated into more than 20 languages and have had productions throughout Europe and in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. He has written two radio plays, with Four Big Days in the Life of Dessie Banks for RTÉ winning the I PA Radio Drama Award and The Monotonous Life of Little Miss P for the BBC commended at the Gran Prix Berlin. His commissioned work includes plays for Paines Plough in London, the Druid Theatre in Galway, the Kammerspiele in Munich and the Royal National's Connections Project in London. He wrote the screenplay of the film Disco Pigs and co-wrote the screenplay of Hunger which was directed by Steve McQueen and stars Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands, the IRA hunger striker who starved himself to death in protest over British rule. Hunger won numerous awards (see below) including the Caméra d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Film Award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards 2009 and a nomination for Best British Film at the British Academy Film Awards. He wrote an adaptation of his play Chatroom for a film directed by Hideo Nakata which was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. He is currently under commission for two films, an adaptation of the children's story Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson and a biography of Dusty Springfield.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the other reviews from people who were able to see it, apparently the original production was amazing!! However, most of the huzzahs were for the PHYSICAL production - which doesn't come across on the page. And sadly, I found the script almost impossible to parse... I got a general gist - and some of the passages had a palpable power... but I'd be hard pressed to say just exactly what it is about.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a dense text that I didn't enjoy reading. It was supposedly a love story set in a dystopia - but I found it overly confusing and for me it was very unclear what it was getting at other than darkness misery and pain. So it left me frustrated.
I have just read the theatre reviews and they were very positive, and apparently the production had huge sections dedicated to dance and movement. So I am obviously not getting the full picture. But definitely wouldn't take on a desert island.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I'm guessing you'd get a lot more out of seeing these short theater pieces than you do reading them. The language is certainly interesting but they don't really make a lot of sense.
(Received for review)

[Carolin Kopplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dystopian love story.

[Jasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Floored by the St. Ann's Warehouse production and purchased the play right outside the theater. The technical elements were so impressive and the play was so incredibly imagistic and visual that I wanted to see how it translated from the page. The language is just so lovely. A love letter to storytelling.

[Sophie Bloor · Rating 2 out of 5]

L

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this

[bookmaggot · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Coral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it, beautiful story

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure that I liked this... I think.

[Castor · Rating 4 out of 5]

ʷʰᵒᵃ

[Jessica Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arlington by Enda Walsh AKA a masterclass on how to write perfect stage directions

[mallory payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

read it in like 20 minutes today between studying. so heart wrenching and very surreal. a beautiful way to tell a story.