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Harper Regan
In her late forties, Harper Regan suddenly leaves her family in the suburbs of West London and sets off on a mission to see her father before he dies. Her journey becomes a road trip through the heart of England in this violent and comic exploration of the moralities of sex and death.
Harper Regan is the major new play by the National Theatre's resident dramatist, Simon Stephens, and will be directed by Marianne Elliott, current holder of the Evening Standard Theatre award for best director. The play opens at the National in April 2008.
Harper Regan is the major new play by the National Theatre's resident dramatist, Simon Stephens, and will be directed by Marianne Elliott, current holder of the Evening Standard Theatre award for best director. The play opens at the National in April 2008.
112 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 2, 2017
I saw this in the bar at BLT: there were some terrific performances but the play itself was flawed and even inept in places.
Through a series of about ten encounters, the almost sociopathic heroine goes back to Stockport to see her dying father because she has never told him she loves him. Yes, the play is built on that most banal of clichés. She decides not to tell her husband where she is going: an illogical act that is never properly explained (she doesn't want him to follow her, but since nobody knows where she's staying she could easily have put his mind at rest without risking being found). She apparently loves him but is quite happy to disappear for two days, leaving the poor man frantic with worry. When she gets back, he happily accepts her perfunctory apologies and wedded bliss returns.
There are numerous mistakes and inconsistencies. Several characters comment on Harper's unusual name, but the story behind the name is never told. The first scene is a meeting with her boss – a man who is surreally creepy in a manner quite out of keeping with the rest of the play. One character is described as separated and is then revealed to have married again. Some workmen comment on the good weather, but ten minutes later the mother says the weather is clearing. Two characters suddenly go off on irrelevant racist rants for no apparent reason whatsoever; perhaps it's just the author's cack-handed way of telling us not to like them.
Some of the dialogue is vibrant and funny, but a lot of it is drab, low-energy murmuring that tails off into silence in unconscious parody of Ingmar Bergman. The vain, self-indulgent heroine is a terrific part (terrifically played in the version I saw), but the play's flaws in plotting and long periods of slow, boring musing about nothing at all make the whole experience a bit dull.
Through a series of about ten encounters, the almost sociopathic heroine goes back to Stockport to see her dying father because she has never told him she loves him. Yes, the play is built on that most banal of clichés. She decides not to tell her husband where she is going: an illogical act that is never properly explained (she doesn't want him to follow her, but since nobody knows where she's staying she could easily have put his mind at rest without risking being found). She apparently loves him but is quite happy to disappear for two days, leaving the poor man frantic with worry. When she gets back, he happily accepts her perfunctory apologies and wedded bliss returns.
There are numerous mistakes and inconsistencies. Several characters comment on Harper's unusual name, but the story behind the name is never told. The first scene is a meeting with her boss – a man who is surreally creepy in a manner quite out of keeping with the rest of the play. One character is described as separated and is then revealed to have married again. Some workmen comment on the good weather, but ten minutes later the mother says the weather is clearing. Two characters suddenly go off on irrelevant racist rants for no apparent reason whatsoever; perhaps it's just the author's cack-handed way of telling us not to like them.
Some of the dialogue is vibrant and funny, but a lot of it is drab, low-energy murmuring that tails off into silence in unconscious parody of Ingmar Bergman. The vain, self-indulgent heroine is a terrific part (terrifically played in the version I saw), but the play's flaws in plotting and long periods of slow, boring musing about nothing at all make the whole experience a bit dull.
April 26, 2016
I don't usually read plays - I had it drummed into me by a drama teacher at a young age that plays should be seen/performed, not read. Nonetheless, this was an interesting one. The main character is, unusually, a middle-aged woman, and even with the dramatic elements, there's a strong thread of truth running through it. I liked her strength as much as her vulnerabilities. I liked her anger. And I'm definitely intrigued to see it on stage, because I feel like the right actress could lift this into something really special.
June 14, 2023
This view of England is pessimistic and apocalyptic. Some characters speak using violent, racist terms- despite these characters being presented as wrong and slightly unhinged, it feels cruel. What if someone in the audience hears these terms on a regular basis? Hasn't aged well. As usual, though, Simon is expert at rooting a story in time and place, as well as taking a plot worldwide then intimate in the space of a sentence.
March 4, 2018
A dissolution with deceptively simple dialogue. I'm into it.
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November 20, 2024Decent play.
January 21, 2017
Simon Stepehens "Harper Regan" wow, what a read! I was fascinated, I was shocked and it made me thinking. It made me thinking about the darkest corners of the human beings. What hides deeply in our minds and how tragedies can make those thoughts to become our reality. I guess Harper Regan reached that point where everything did not matter anymore. I found Harper ambiguous and sharp character.
I really enjoyed analyzing all the created characters with the play. Uncomfortable and sexist situation with Elwood. Tense relationship with Seth, Sarah or Alison.This play creates tension, sadness, compassion, rage, happiness and leaves you lots of space to re-thinking everything.
As Stephens once said "..think that action of the play is to pose that question, not to resolve it, to provoke audience ..." I must agree Simon Stephen done great job with Harper Regan play "Provocation". 5 Stars!
I really enjoyed analyzing all the created characters with the play. Uncomfortable and sexist situation with Elwood. Tense relationship with Seth, Sarah or Alison.This play creates tension, sadness, compassion, rage, happiness and leaves you lots of space to re-thinking everything.
As Stephens once said "..think that action of the play is to pose that question, not to resolve it, to provoke audience ..." I must agree Simon Stephen done great job with Harper Regan play "Provocation". 5 Stars!
January 2, 2010
I'm a big fan of this Methuen Drama. Harper Regan is presented so ambiguous in her chameleon like transformation from scene to scene as she tries to locate 'her truth'. Fantastic play about the little lies you tell to the ones you love as well as the painful truths we cut to the ones we love as well.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews