THE CONFESSIONS
by Alexander Zeldin
AN A ZELDIN COMPANY/
COMPAGNIE A ZELDIN PRODUCTION
Co-commissioned by the National Theatre, Melbourne RISING, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg
An intimate portrait of a life.
Australia 1943 to London 2021, and everything in between.
Alice is learning to be herself against the times. But how do the times shape who we are?
Playing out over a tumultuous eight decades, Alice’s complex relationships become a common thread in her personal journey, in this intimate portrait of a life.
Following hours of interviews, Zeldin brings a real life to stage, with a cast including Eryn Jean Norvill and Pamela Rabe making their UK stage debuts, and music composed by Yannis Philippakis (Foals).
Director Alexander Zeldin
Set and Costume Designer Marg Horwell
Chorepgrapher and Movement Director Imogen Knight
Lighting Designer Paule Constable
Composer Yannis Philippakis
Sound Designer Josh Anio Grigg
Casting Director Jacob Sparrow
Australian Casting Serena Hill
Associate Director Joanna Pidcock
Dramaturgy Faye Merralls, Sasha Milavic Davies
Voice Director Cathleen McCarron
Dialect Coaches Jenny Kent, Louise Jones
The Confessions - Announced Tour Dates 2023
Vienna - Wiener Festwochen: 14th-17th June
Athens - Athens Epidaurus Festival: 23rd-26th June
Barcelona - Grec Festival: 2nd-4th July
Avignon - Festival D'Avignon - 17th-23rd July
Paris - Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe - 29th September-14th October
London - National Theatre - 19th October-4th November
Geneva - Comédie de Genève - 8th-12th November
Liège - Théâtre de Liège - 15th-18th November
Clermont-Ferrand - Comédie de la Clermont - 22nd-24th November
Co-Produced by Wiener Festwochen, Comédie de Genève, Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Centro Cultural de Belém, Théâtre de Liège, Festival d'Avignon, Festival d'Automne à Paris, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Piccolo Teatro di Milano - Teatro d'Europa, Adelaide Festival, Centre Dramatique National de Normandie-Rouen
The Confessions is supported by Nancy and Michael Timmers, Cas Donald, David Schwimmer, Elisabeth de Kergorlay, Mazdak Rassi and Zanna Roberts Rassi, Andrew and Raquel Segal, Victoria Reese and Greg Kennedy, Studio Indigo Architects & Interior Designers
Photography for The Confessions is by Christophe Raynaud de Lage
BEYOND CARING
Four people arrive to work the night shift in a meat factory. They are all on zero-hours contracts. Every shift, they clean. Every four hours, they take a break. They drink tea or coffee together. They read magazines. They chat.
As it gets light, they go home or to another job. The cycle goes on. And on. Strangers. Until something stirs, until isolated people get too close to one another, too fast.
LOVE
In the run-up to Christmas, three families are placed into cramped temporary accommodation.
A middle-aged man and his elderly mum, a young family with a baby on the way, a newly arrived woman from Sudan. Strangers. Forced together. No space is personal.
FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY
In a run-down community hall on the edge of town, a woman has been cooking lunch for those in need.
A choir is starting up, run by a volunteer who's looking for a new beginning. A mother is seeking help in her fight to keep her young daughter from being taken into care.
An older man sits silently in the corner, the first to arrive, the last to leave. Outside the rain is falling.
(Photograph by Sarah Lee)