Vincent River

Davey has seen something he can't forget. Anita has been forced to flee her home. These two have never met. Tonight their paths cross with devastating consequences. Thrilling, heartbreaking and darkly humorous by turns, Vincent River explores the classic Ridley themes of loss, sexual identity, the family as a destructive force, East London and the redemptive power of storytelling. Vincent River premiered at Hampstead Theatre on 6 September 2000. It received its West End premiere at the Trafalgar Studios on 30 October 2007.

In the apparently quiet Waikato of the 1930s and 1940s a number of lives connect in a complex web of family ties, desire and violence. Things are often not what they seem. The events of this story also take in boxing and farming, devotion and perversion, ranging as far as Tasmania and the Spanish Civil War.

Provides a comprehensive and organic historical survey of the black movement toward freedom in the United States.

Vincent van Gogh’s life was driven by passions, from the religious to the romantic. These passions illuminated his work as an artist, but also led to his many disappointments in life. Whether attempting to be a missionary, falling in love with his cousin, sheltering a prostitute and her children, proposing to his neighbor’s spinster daughter or establishing an art colony with Paul Gauguin failure haunted him. Although his uniquely vibrant colors and dramatic brushstrokes redefined impressionist painting, success eluded him. Only after his tragic death was his artwork finally recognized for its intensity, appeal, and enduring impact.

"This is a travel adventure set in the legendary French city of Arles. Founded in Roman times, Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in scenic Provence in the south of France. For the last hundred years it has been an important destination for the countless tourists who arrive in pursuit of the great Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, who famously spent an intense fourteen months in Arles, painting the most brilliant works of his career (all those sunflowers and quivering landscapes), squabbling with fellow artist Paul Gauguin, guzzling absinthe, and famously cutting off the lobe of his ear, which landed him in the local hospital in the throes of a mental breakdown. Linda Seidel has visited Arles many times, initially to study the splendid medieval church of Saint-Trophime, but eventually to follow in the long shadow of Vincent's passage, which he recorded in numerous paintings and drawings. Together, they make a pair of charming guides, sharing with us the wonders of Arles's Roman amphitheater, which seats 20,000 people and has been in continuous use for two thousand years; the Alyscamps, a Roman cemetery featuring paths still lined with ancient sarcophagi; the Church of St. Trophime with its astonishing Romanesque portal; the Arles Hospital, which has been converted into a museum about Vincent; the cafes and bars where he hung out; new buildings such as the tower by Frank Gehry; and of course the Provençal countryside with its dazzling wildflowers and quaint farms. Ultimately, this is Vincent's story, told as never before through an engagement with the mysterious, culturally rich town that transformed his life and, indeed, the entire course of modern art"--