Elegy: world premiere this evening!

21 April 2016 17:53

In just over an hour-and-a-half, Zoë will appear in the world premiere of Elegy at London's Donmar Warehouse. Previews of the play, which explores the workings of the human mind and the power of our emotions, will then continue until its official opening, on 27 April.

Elegy is among The Stage's latest theatre picks, while news of the play's imminent first performance has also been reported in the US's theatrical press, namely by Playbill.com and BroadwayWorld.com.

Elegy's writer, Nick Payne, has given an insightful interview about what audiences can expect, published by the Evening Standard today. The interview reveals that the play poses an unsettling question: what if you urgently needed brain surgery but a side-effect of the operation was that you'd lose your memories of the love of your life?

The Evening Standard notes that Elegy has 'a sense of impending, inevitable tragedy'. The play begins at the end of the story, and so, as Payne points out, 'It's not about what's going to happen next. When you know what happens next, the question is ''Why?'''

Zoë, who Payne enthusiastically describes as 'amazing' and 'brilliant', plays Lorna in the production, alongside Barbara Flynn (Carrie) and Nina Sosanya (Miriam); the director is Josie Rourke. Interestingly, Elegy marks the second time that Zoë has been part of an all-female cast of three at the Donmar, in a play written by a man and directed by a woman. The first time was in 2001, for Boston Marriage, which was written by David Mamet and directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

Performances of Elegy are scheduled to take place until 18 June. The Donmar is releasing £10 tickets for front row seats on Monday mornings, with a very, very small number of other tickets also available. Tickets have been selling quickly, and so I'd recommend booking sooner rather than later, if you haven't already done so.

Let's wish Zoë and the rest of the cast and crew all the very best with Elegy! It sounds like a thought-provoking, intense production that's likely to pull at our heartstrings, as well as encouraging us to consider ideas about love, identity, memory and what it means to be human.

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