Following its premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival, Alan Ayckbourn’s The Divide arrives at the Old Vic Theatre from the 1st February.
In the aftermath of a deadly contagion which has decimated the population, contact between men and women has become fatal. Under the dictates of an elusive and authoritarian Preacher, an unthinkable solution has been enforced. The adult survivors are now segregated by gender and, physically separated, men wear white as a sign of their purity and women – still deemed infected – are clothed in black as a mark of their sin.
As new social norms prevail, brother and sister Elihu and Soween grow up learning the ways of their tightly controlled society. As they begin to glimpse the cracks in the system, Elihu falls for Giella, the daughter of two radical mothers, risking fatal disease and threatening to ignite a bloody revolution.
Written by Alan Ayckbourn, The Divide is set in a dystopian society of repression and seething insurrection and is brought to the Old Vic stage by Old Vic Baylis Director Annabel Bolton.
Featuring a choir of 20 performers from The Old Vic’s community company, The Divide has been developed further since its premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival and is now being presented as a single performance – rather than split into two parts.
Cast for the production at The Old Vic will include: Clare Burt as Hork, Jake Davies as Elihu, Erin Doherty as Soween, Thusitha Jayasundera as Kest, Richard Katz as Conrad, Joanne McGuinness as Ax, Sophie Melville as Sassa, Clare Lawrence Moody as Desollia, Weruche Opia as Giella, Martin Quinn plays Fergo, Letty Thomas plays Grosh and Finty Williams plays Chayza.
Meanwhile, the creative team for the production includes: designs by Laura Hopkins, Composer Christopher Nightingale, lighting by David Plater, sound by Bobby Aitken and video design by Ash J Woodward.
The Divide plays at the Old Vic Theatre from the 1st to the 10th February. To book tickets visit: Ticketmaster.co.uk, Theatre Tickets Direct.co.uk .