Rafts and Dreams

Rafts and Dreams
Written byRobert Holman
Characters
  • Neil Bell
  • Hetty
  • Leo
  • Jo
  • Alex
  • Woman
Date premieredOctober 4, 1990 (1990-10-04)
Place premieredRoyal Court Theatre Upstairs, London
Original languageEnglish
Subjectchild abuse, rising sea levels
SettingLondon, a raft at sea, an iceberg, Africa[1]

Rafts and Dreams is a play by English playwright Robert Holman that was first performed in 1990, and published in 1991.[1]

Plot

Beginning as a seeming domestic drama,[2] Rafts and Dreams shows the relationship between obsessive-compulsive mysophobe Hetty and her soldier husband Leo, and their neighbour Neil – a victim of childhood sexual abuse who is now studying to be a doctor. However, when Leo and Neil remove a tree stump from Leo's garden they find an underground lake under all London which expands to flood the entire world. Leo makes a raft from their living room and as they float they meet the wife of the man who abused Neil.

Productions

Rafts and Dreams was first presented at the Royal Court Theatre in 1990. The production was directed by John Dove and the cast was:

Neil Bell – Jonathan Cullen
Hetty – Adie Allen
Leo – Jason Watkins
Jo – Natasha Pyne
Alex – Ilan Ostrove
Woman – Maureen Hibbert

In 2003 the play was revived at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in a production directed by Tim Stark.[3]

Critical reception

“While digging up the roots of a tree in the garden, Neil, Leo and Hetty uncover a vast underground lake which floods away the world. With Leo at the tiller of his sawn-away living room, the trio begin a voyage over the earth's watery surface … Rafts and Dreams is a surrealist fantasy at its most thought-provoking, a play whose best bits manage (in both senses) to work like a dream.” – Paul Taylor, The Independent.[citation needed]

Encore Theatre Magazine described the play as “one of the great post-war British plays.”[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Holman, Robert (1991). Rafts and Dreams & Outside the Whale. London: Methuen. ISBN 9780413655707.
  2. ^ Gardner, Lyn (30 September 2003). "'Are my plays any good? I haven't a clue'". The Guardian. Lyn Gardner interviews Robert Holman.
  3. ^ Gardner, Lyn (8 October 2003). "Across Oka/Rafts and Dreams". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "Encore Heroes". Encore Theatre Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2015.

Further reading

  • London Theatre Record, Volume 10, Issues 14-26
  • Taylor, Paul (22 October 2011). "Theatre: And the outlook is unsettled". The Independent. Holman's 1990 Royal Court play Rafts and Dreams is, in my view, one of the most underrated dramas of the decade.
  • Anderson, Lee (18 November 2014). "Discovering Robert Holman". Exeunt Magazine. Rafts and Dreams is discussed in the context of Holman's other plays.