Ruth Leon recommends… The Wife of Willesden – Kiln Theatre
Ruth Leon recommendsThe Wife of Willesden – Kiln Theatre
This play, by novelist Zadie Smith, was a surprise hit at the Kiln Theatre earlier in the year. Transporting Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to 21st century North West London, it is a play that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives.
Alvita is a proper local legend. Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend. Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman’s got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables, and her love life’s an epic poem. They call her The Wife of Willesden.
Sold out throughout its run at the Kiln, it transferred to the West End and subsequently to New York. Someone had the foresight to record it on video and it’s now available on the National Theatre At Home platform.
The Wife of Willesden was directed by Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingh.
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