Book description
A young man has an affair with a married woman. He is terrified her
husband will challenge him to a duel and kill him. Meanwhile he toys
with the affections of another and, for a moment, life seems full of
joy. The doorbell rings. The husband enters the room. Based on
Schnitzler's play Liebelei, David Harrower's Sweet Nothings captures
the power of sexual longing, the cruelty of tradition and the
vulnerability of those in love. The play premieres at the Young Vic,
London, in March 2010. 'I write of love and death. What other subjects
are there?' Arthur Schnitzler.
David Harrower's plays include Knives in Hens (Traverse, 1995), Kill
the Old, Torture Their Young (Traverse, 1998), Presence (Royal Court,
2001) and Dark Earth (Traverse, 2003). Adaptations/versions include The
Chrysalids (NT Connections, 1996), Six Characters in Search of an Author
(Young Vic, 2001), Woyzeck (Edinburgh Lyceum, 2001), Ivanov (National
Theatre, 2002), The Girl on the Sofa (Edinburgh International
Festival/Schaubuhne, 2002), Purple (NT/Shell Connections, 2003) and
Tales from the Vienna Woods (National Theatre, 2003). Blackbird was
commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and premiered at
the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2005.
