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Speaking in Tongues
Paperback acting edition.
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 12, 2025
Andrew Bovell has never disappointed me. He certainly knows what he's doing!
Speaking in Tongues is a meticulously crafted exploration of the intricacies of love, human connection, isolation, betrayal, and emotional vulnerability. Through its distinctive fractured narrative, the play reveals how lives intersect through chance and consequence, weaving a tapestry of interlinked stories that resonate with psychological depth.
At the heart of the play lies an examination of betrayal- not only in its overt form, such as infidelity, but also in subtler manifestations like the erosion of trust and the abandonment of personal commitments. Bovell suggests that even the smallest acts of betrayal, whether deliberate or accidental, can trigger profound and lasting ripple effects.
Despite the characters’ yearning for intimacy, they often remain emotionally estranged. Bovell’s structural choices underscore this tension: in the opening scenes, couples share the stage yet remain disconnected, their mirrored conversations highlighting the gulf between proximity and genuine understanding. This contrast between the desire for closeness and the inability to achieve it is a recurring motif throughout the play.
The narrative unfolds with the suspense and intricacy of a detective story. Characters reappear across scenes, and seemingly inconsequential events later emerge as pivotal links in a chain of cause and effect. This technique not only sustains dramatic tension but also reinforces the theme of interconnectedness.
Fundamentally, Speaking in Tongues offers a poignant commentary on human fallibility. Bovell portrays individuals as susceptible to moral weakness, self-absorption, and a persistent failure to truly connect. The play delves into how ordinary lives are burdened by unresolved histories and concealed truths, suggesting that beneath the surface of everyday interactions lie complex emotional undercurrents.
The title itself serves as a central symbolic device. Rather than referencing a religious phenomenon, “speaking in tongues” here reflects the characters’ inability to communicate meaningfully. Their overlapping and often misunderstood dialogue mimics the fragmented nature of human communication, especially within intimate relationships. Bovell’s use of mirrored conversations in the first part- two couples discussing infidelity in near-identical exchanges-visually and aurally represents this disconnection.
Dramatically, the play transitions seamlessly from domestic realism to psychological thriller. This shift is both theatrical and unsettling, drawing the audience into a darker, more layered narrative. Bovell’s use of parallel scenes and reflective set design fosters a voyeuristic atmosphere, inviting the audience to witness the characters’ most vulnerable moments.
Symbolism is employed with subtlety and precision. The discarded stiletto shoe in the second part becomes a potent emblem, linking disparate storylines and deepening the play’s thematic concerns. As a symbol of femininity and seduction, the shoe evokes hidden desires and infidelities. Its abandonment in a car suggests violence and erasure, pointing to a missing woman whose life was marked by emotional abuse and secrecy.
In sum, Speaking in Tongues is a compelling and thought-provoking work that interrogates the fragility of human relationships. Bovell’s masterful use of structure, symbolism, and suspense invites audiences to reflect on the ways we speak, listen, and ultimately fail to understand one another.
Speaking in Tongues is a meticulously crafted exploration of the intricacies of love, human connection, isolation, betrayal, and emotional vulnerability. Through its distinctive fractured narrative, the play reveals how lives intersect through chance and consequence, weaving a tapestry of interlinked stories that resonate with psychological depth.
At the heart of the play lies an examination of betrayal- not only in its overt form, such as infidelity, but also in subtler manifestations like the erosion of trust and the abandonment of personal commitments. Bovell suggests that even the smallest acts of betrayal, whether deliberate or accidental, can trigger profound and lasting ripple effects.
Despite the characters’ yearning for intimacy, they often remain emotionally estranged. Bovell’s structural choices underscore this tension: in the opening scenes, couples share the stage yet remain disconnected, their mirrored conversations highlighting the gulf between proximity and genuine understanding. This contrast between the desire for closeness and the inability to achieve it is a recurring motif throughout the play.
The narrative unfolds with the suspense and intricacy of a detective story. Characters reappear across scenes, and seemingly inconsequential events later emerge as pivotal links in a chain of cause and effect. This technique not only sustains dramatic tension but also reinforces the theme of interconnectedness.
Fundamentally, Speaking in Tongues offers a poignant commentary on human fallibility. Bovell portrays individuals as susceptible to moral weakness, self-absorption, and a persistent failure to truly connect. The play delves into how ordinary lives are burdened by unresolved histories and concealed truths, suggesting that beneath the surface of everyday interactions lie complex emotional undercurrents.
The title itself serves as a central symbolic device. Rather than referencing a religious phenomenon, “speaking in tongues” here reflects the characters’ inability to communicate meaningfully. Their overlapping and often misunderstood dialogue mimics the fragmented nature of human communication, especially within intimate relationships. Bovell’s use of mirrored conversations in the first part- two couples discussing infidelity in near-identical exchanges-visually and aurally represents this disconnection.
Dramatically, the play transitions seamlessly from domestic realism to psychological thriller. This shift is both theatrical and unsettling, drawing the audience into a darker, more layered narrative. Bovell’s use of parallel scenes and reflective set design fosters a voyeuristic atmosphere, inviting the audience to witness the characters’ most vulnerable moments.
Symbolism is employed with subtlety and precision. The discarded stiletto shoe in the second part becomes a potent emblem, linking disparate storylines and deepening the play’s thematic concerns. As a symbol of femininity and seduction, the shoe evokes hidden desires and infidelities. Its abandonment in a car suggests violence and erasure, pointing to a missing woman whose life was marked by emotional abuse and secrecy.
In sum, Speaking in Tongues is a compelling and thought-provoking work that interrogates the fragility of human relationships. Bovell’s masterful use of structure, symbolism, and suspense invites audiences to reflect on the ways we speak, listen, and ultimately fail to understand one another.
July 7, 2013
I didn’t know what to expect from Speaking In Tongues, which is not surprising, given author Andrew Bovell’s comment, “I hate theatre when it is exactly what you are expecting it to be.”
The production I saw promised “a number of separate but interlinked stories … nine parallel lives connected by four infidelities, one missing person and a mysterious stiletto … encounters, confessionals and interrogations that gradually reveal the darker side of human nature.” Oh goody, grab the popcorn.
The play opens with two married couples appearing in separate hotel bedrooms – but the husbands are with the wrong wives. Their conversations interweave and overlap as each tries to come to terms with the guilt of what they may or may not be about to do. This scene is beautifully written and very, very hard to perform as the characters have to say some lines simultaneously in different conversations, with the doubled-up voices giving extra power to such lines as “I just wanted to feel something” and “I wanted to know if I was still attractive.”
The first half follows these four characters as their stories move together and apart in a choreographed dance of dialogue, revealing their frustration, disillusionment, bitterness and guilt.
In the second half, new characters take up the stories alluded to in the first half, and the threads of their stories fray and tangle delightfully. Leon the policeman is the only survivor from the first half: the dark sun around which the other worlds blindly orbit. His subtle emotional dishonesty influences the lives of those around him without their knowledge.
This is a brilliantly written play, which fulfils Bovell’s promise of something unexpected, but it isn’t pretentious or difficult to watch. It has tension, mystery and pathos, but it can also be very funny, with the humour of people who talk without communicating and try to control their own worlds but are blind to the other people and events that shape their lives.
The production I saw promised “a number of separate but interlinked stories … nine parallel lives connected by four infidelities, one missing person and a mysterious stiletto … encounters, confessionals and interrogations that gradually reveal the darker side of human nature.” Oh goody, grab the popcorn.
The play opens with two married couples appearing in separate hotel bedrooms – but the husbands are with the wrong wives. Their conversations interweave and overlap as each tries to come to terms with the guilt of what they may or may not be about to do. This scene is beautifully written and very, very hard to perform as the characters have to say some lines simultaneously in different conversations, with the doubled-up voices giving extra power to such lines as “I just wanted to feel something” and “I wanted to know if I was still attractive.”
The first half follows these four characters as their stories move together and apart in a choreographed dance of dialogue, revealing their frustration, disillusionment, bitterness and guilt.
In the second half, new characters take up the stories alluded to in the first half, and the threads of their stories fray and tangle delightfully. Leon the policeman is the only survivor from the first half: the dark sun around which the other worlds blindly orbit. His subtle emotional dishonesty influences the lives of those around him without their knowledge.
This is a brilliantly written play, which fulfils Bovell’s promise of something unexpected, but it isn’t pretentious or difficult to watch. It has tension, mystery and pathos, but it can also be very funny, with the humour of people who talk without communicating and try to control their own worlds but are blind to the other people and events that shape their lives.
February 9, 2022
Very clever and very interesting psychoanalytical drama.
Felt like the characters who were women were a tad underdeveloped and used as props for the complexities of the male characters, but overall an entertaining read.
Felt like the characters who were women were a tad underdeveloped and used as props for the complexities of the male characters, but overall an entertaining read.
July 2, 2022
feels like a gcse drama performance, averagest of joes
September 23, 2023
it’s like, alright. i don’t think i was the target demographic for this as i’m not married or middle-aged, and looking at it on paper, all of these plot-points could’ve easily been solved if they JUST FCKING COMMUNICATED, OH MY GOD. i HATE THE BROKEN COMMUNICATION TROPE IT’S SO FRUSTRATING IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE. anyway. i think studying it two years in a row for literature made me like it less. i also think i liked it less after having a video call with Bovell. he was nice, especially since he did the call for free (when it would’ve been like $650 for AN HOUR OF HIS TIME. HELLO??) but he seemed to boast about himself and his work far too much for a piece of literature that i probably never would of heard of if i hadn’t of taken the class i did. like, it’s decent, if i had to be more specific i would give it a 2.5 or 2.75. like, i do like it, but i’m not like ‘wow. THIS is literature. this is theatre. this is art’. i do really like how everything is interconnected though, i’ve always loved that device in any sort of literature or media, probably just behind foreshadowing. i also think it’d be pretty fun to perform on stage, especially with the echo effect thingo. i also think this review is far too long for how indifferent i feel about this play script. good day 🎩
January 7, 2024
A masterpiece. Perfect play.
March 6, 2023
Rated 3.5 / Rounding Down
I read this and watched the production I could find on YouTube.
I found the first scene kind of jarring simply because it's not a common technique but after the first 5 minutes or so, I got into it and thought it was very interesting! I liked the way it was used to showcase parallel lives and different decision-making. I watched it first and then read it which made everything make a lot of sense. I did find a professional production of the 1st scene and it was much better than the full version I can find so I think done well, the first scene is really something.
While I "see" how all 3 parts fit together and the common themes throughout, the feel was very different. Parts 2 and 3 felt like a different play written in the same "universe". While I thought all the connections and Easter Eggs were fun, I didn't find Parts 2 and 3 continued with the same level of innovation and technical intrigue as Part 1. While I liked the new characters more than the ones in Part 1, the difference in originality from Part 1 made it feel like a bunch of plays I've seen before.
There were quite a few monologues/sections of dialogue that felt unnatural and extra "play-y" but that's pretty common, just not my personal favorite.
Overall, I thought it was a good play but found the contrast in structure between Parts 1 and 2/3 to make it feel unspecial. Feeling pretty neutral on this one.
I gave it an extra 0.5 stars (3.5 total) for the originality in the first scene where characters speak at the same time.
I read this and watched the production I could find on YouTube.
I found the first scene kind of jarring simply because it's not a common technique but after the first 5 minutes or so, I got into it and thought it was very interesting! I liked the way it was used to showcase parallel lives and different decision-making. I watched it first and then read it which made everything make a lot of sense. I did find a professional production of the 1st scene and it was much better than the full version I can find so I think done well, the first scene is really something.
While I "see" how all 3 parts fit together and the common themes throughout, the feel was very different. Parts 2 and 3 felt like a different play written in the same "universe". While I thought all the connections and Easter Eggs were fun, I didn't find Parts 2 and 3 continued with the same level of innovation and technical intrigue as Part 1. While I liked the new characters more than the ones in Part 1, the difference in originality from Part 1 made it feel like a bunch of plays I've seen before.
There were quite a few monologues/sections of dialogue that felt unnatural and extra "play-y" but that's pretty common, just not my personal favorite.
Overall, I thought it was a good play but found the contrast in structure between Parts 1 and 2/3 to make it feel unspecial. Feeling pretty neutral on this one.
I gave it an extra 0.5 stars (3.5 total) for the originality in the first scene where characters speak at the same time.
February 22, 2021
“Read” this play as an online live production by Augustana College - masked and social distancing, too. Well done with a text which involves multiple characters speaking the same lines in multiple ways. A bit hard to follow at times for all the challenges covid brings to art, but the actors got the story across. Bravo!!
September 21, 2023
Quite masterfully structured play that got turned into a good film (Lantana) that I recall as being more conventional. I feel like the experimental working through of parallel voices works well on the page but can also feel a bit programmatic, turning the characters more into types than individuals.
January 26, 2023
i think i need to stare at the wall for a while. i’m in so much shock. the thought that would’ve gone into this is astounding to me. i would love to see this as a live show. seriously read this book right now.
April 15, 2023
A modern tragedy in three acts with the interconnection of lives, lies and infidelity tackling the painful entropy of love and relationships. Some of the relationships may have reconfigured, but that is left for us to contemplate which is a wonderful hovering anticipatory fade to black…
April 17, 2020
A complex play that reworks the nature of theatre. The connections between the characters are so thoughtfully planned and the dialogue is suspenseful. Who knew marriage could be so.... depressing?
January 22, 2021
It was good. Like Love, Actually but for sadists.
November 16, 2022
it was so good but so sad
February 3, 2023
Bovell's prose is exceptional. The way he uses identical lines and speech patterns while taking his characters on completely different journeys is unlike anything I've ever read before.
November 7, 2021
An innovative piece of modern Australian theatre, this was a times difficult to read and follow, requiring re-reading of sections. I can't imagine that it would be any less challenging to view as a performance, and indeed, looking up a few performances of the first on YouTube revealled this to be the case. It is clear what Bovell is trying to achieve through the use of parallel and overlapping dialogue in the opening scene particularly, though this did make following all of the ideas a bit of a challenge. Those who are familiar with it, will see echoes of the 2001 film 'Lantana', directed by Ray Lawrence, and indeed, they explore the same thematic landscape.
March 19, 2009
Though it's a decent exercise in writing and staging, I give it a two because I would never want to see it (even though we're doing it next spring). The relationships are shallow and depressing. I don't think we'll win audiences with this one.
January 30, 2012
A stunning masterpiece. I've never said this about a play before, but I couldn't put it down. I'm aching for the opportunity to stage it, despite the incredible challenges it presents.
January 22, 2014
I didn't think I would like this at all but wow. I loved it. I loved how the characters intertwined with each other.
This is fantastic.
This is fantastic.
April 12, 2014
reading this book for Literature, I'm thoroughly impressed by Bovell's story.
August 20, 2014
I'd love to see this performed live! With cleverly crafted dialogue, this plot shows the intertwined lives of individuals.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews