“What gets me through is knowing I took this pain, and saved all of you from suffering the same.”
UK Theatre Award for Best New Play 2015, Iphigenia in Splott, heads to London at the National Theatre’s Temporary Theatre, before touring across the UK.
Stumbling down Clifton Street at 11:30am drunk, Effie is the kind of girl you’d avoid eye contact with, silently passing judgement. We think we know her, but we don’t know the half of it. Effie’s life spirals through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day - till one night gives her the chance to be something more. Effie will break your heart.
Inspired by the enduring Greek myth, Iphigenia in Splott drives home the high price people pay for society’s shortcomings.
“Sherman Cymru’s artistic director Rachel O’Riordan captures the play’s many tonal changes in her production, which is fluid and textured. It’s a masterclass on how to keep an audience focused.” ***** The Stage
“Owen tells a really good story and one involving cliffhangers which are brilliantly handled in Rachel O’Riordan’s tightly controlled production” **** The Guardian
"Tense and moving" ***** The Telegraph
“Rachel O’Riordan’s sharply focused production has a pacy directness, and Sophie Melville is sensational as Effie.” ***** The Evening Standard
“This is the best sort of monologue, the kind that leaves you with all sorts of detailed mental pictures of what you have just imagined.” **** The Times
“Sharply written, keenly performed and astutely directed.” **** The Financial Times
“The director Rachel O’Riordan is attuned to every hormonal adjustment in Mr. Owen’s empathically imagined heroine.” New York Times
“This is a one-woman marathon and a phenomenal performance by Sophie Melville, incisively directed by Rachel O’Riordan.” **** The Observer