“Confronting the past can be painful.
Better to let sleeping dogs lie?”
When a woman knocks on your door to confront you about your long term affair with her husband, how do you react? With apology, anger, fear, hostility, or amusement? It is probably a mixture of all these and more. And the aggrieved wife — what is she trying to achieve? Is it understanding, an apology, or revenge?
Set in a flat in Ventnor, the story unfolds over an afternoon, evening, night, and the following morning, as these two mature women play a tense game of cat and mouse. They circle each other like prize fighters, each trying to land the first blow without being hurt themselves.
“The Breath of Life” by David Hare — originally performed by Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith — showcases one of our finest playwrights at work. Hare blends moments of comedy with dark soul searching effortlessly; a master at work.
Is this the end, or a beginning?