THE STORY: A young couple are moving into their new home. A soldier is being held hostage. Two boys are searching for monsters. All these things are connected by both family and time…but what story can be told when family and time are broken? Covering over twelve years, SHIVERED unpicks the story of two families and then re-weaves it into something new and startling. Seven people, one war, a derelict car plant and mysterious lights in the sky…all come together in the Essex new-town of Draylingstowe, where the view from green hills once offered hope and prosperity for all.
“SHIVERED is about fragmentation, as we see the break-up of families, friendships and community, as well as the shattering of certainties between reality and fantasy. This is reflected in the fascinating way Ridley has constructed the play, with 17 brilliantly linked scenes performed non-chronologically as we move back and forth in time, painfully piecing together the shards of glass…Ridley at his imaginative best in what is arguably his most moving and accessible adult play to date.” —What’s On Stage.
“Everyone. Go see Philip Ridley’s SHIVERED…A unique, pertinent, significant play by a major playwright.” —Mark Ravenhill, Playwright.
“Philip Ridley’s new play about family is an amazing and glorious thing. Jumping from the past to the present, the story is presented in a fascinating and dazzling way…he tells the story with enormous flair and stunning control, he also lets his audiences hear the background howls of the weird and the wonderful.” —Arts Desk.
