The Secret Rapture

by David Hare

In David Hare's "greatest play" (City Limits) two sisters, Isobel, a serene and good person, and Marion, an ambitious Tory Junior Minister, gather at the home of their late father for his funeral. Katherine, the sisters' young, alcoholic, stepmother, announces her intention of joining Isobel's design company. Reluctantly Isobel agrees and this act paves the way for tragedy and disaster involving Isobel's lover Irwin, and Marion's evangelical, earnest husband Tom.|4 women, 2 men

Genres: Plays, Theatre

Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Sir David Hare (born 5 June 1947) is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre and film director. Most notable for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing The Hours in 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and The Reader in 2008, based on the novel of the same name written by Bernhard Schlink.

On West End, he had his greatest success with the plays Plenty, which he adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep in 1985, Racing Demon (1990), Skylight (1997), and Amy's View (1998). The four plays ran on Broadway in 1982–83, 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively, earning Hare three Tony Award nominations for Best Play for the first three and two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. Other notable projects on stage include A Map of the World, Pravda, Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War and The Vertical Hour. He wrote screenplays for the film Wetherby and the BBC drama Page Eight (2011).

As of 2013, Hare has received two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, three Tony Award nominations and has won a BAFTA Award, a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and two Laurence Olivier Awards. He has also been awarded several critics' awards such as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and received the Golden Bear in 1985. He was knighted in 1998.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ha...

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a huge lot to say on this one except that David Hare is just so fucking excellent at understanding the complexity and messed uppery of human nature. Shades o' grey and all that. Great play, even as a read.

[Ivy-Mabel Fling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great psychological study of the 'way we live now' - the end was surprising for me but maybe it should not have been.

[Alyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three great female characters to play. David Hare at one of his best. Family, politics, life, death, and love. It has it all.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm extremely conflicted about this play. On one hand, I enjoyed how I could never predict what was coming next, other than the fact that every successive scene would deteriorate from the previous. But on the other hand, every character makes me angry. Every single one. And it's funny how every character save Katherine wants some other character to "grow up", according to their definition of the phrase. But at the end, nobody grows up, and nobody learns anything valuable from this entire experience. I think if I'd seen this play on the stage, I'd have walked out feeling cheated.

[Brian McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting character study. Much better than PLENTY, imho.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm currently shmacting in this play, so I'm reading it over. And over. And over. And over.


And over.

Again.