The City

Editorial

Chris and Clair are a married couple living perpendicular lives. Clair is thinking about a well-known writer she met at the railway station: after giving up his daughter to his sister-in-law, he had left momentarily to buy the child a parting gift, but upon his return, found that both had left. Reflecting on the event, Clair realises she wants to kiss him.

Clair describes the event to Chris, but he is more concerned about his security swipe card not working at the office that morning, and the implications that has for his job. Clair isn't listening.

Their disturbed neighbour, a nurse named Jenny, comes over to complain about the noisy children she hears. Did they lock themselves in a playroom? If so, how?

Chris gets fired, and soon finds himself celebrating his new job as a butcher alone. He happens across something Clair has written, describing a city inside her in which there should dwell an infinite source of characters and narratives. In a recent exploration of her city, Clair found it destroyed and abandoned.

The City is British playwright Martin Crimp's dark comedic take on the nervous energy of urban life, and companion to his earlier piece, The Country. Directed by Benedict Andrews, the play forms part of Sydney Theatre Company's Main Stage Season 2009 program.

Lawrence Bul