Phoenix Theatre Announces THE CHILDREN by Lucy Kirkwood

Lucy Kirkwood's explosive The Children begins as a caustic, bold comedy between a late-middle-aged couple (Hazel and Robin) and a friend (Rose) from many years ago who makes an unannounced visit to their seaside cottage on the east coast of England. The thin veneer of civility flakes away and the caustic nature of their relationships become apparent. What becomes apparent to the audience is that these three old friends have much more to discuss than just old times.

Why Rose has come now, after 38 years in which the three have (apparently) been out of touch, is part of the mystery. What's clear from the microaggressions served with the tea is that she and Hazel, supposedly old friends, are each seething about something. Hazel expresses her chirpy fury in a kind of militant healthfulness: She boasts about eating sensibly and keeping fit through yoga while repeating with bizarre emphasis a self-help nostrum that sounds more like a threat: "If you're not going to grow, don't live."

Very soon in the play the audience discovers that infidelity appears to be this play's subject matter, but the tide shifts at this seaside cottage, and the audience learns that these three characters share more than intimacy. They also happen to be nuclear physicists who puzzle over what's to be done with the nearby nuclear reactor that has been inundated by a tsunami as a result of an underwater earthquake.

The disaster at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan provides Kirkwood's kernel of inspiration for this play, but Kirkwood's script is so much more than a play about infidelity or our fears of living in a post-apocalyptic world. The Children is a mesmerizing story about three people trying to live as fully and truthfully as they can in a world that's no longer in balance. Featuring longtime Phoenix artists Diane Kondrat, Donna Steele, and Charles Goad, this riveting comedy drama is not to be missed.

The Children runs April 25-May 19, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $33-39, available at the Box Office by calling 317-635-7529 or visiting PhoenixTheatre.org. Don't miss this thought-provoking show at Phoenix Theatre, always different, always unique!