The Lyons

A DARK COMEDY ABOUT A DYING BREED

Written by critically acclaimed playwright Nicky Silver, and helmed by award-winning American director Mark Brokaw, The Lyons makes its European debut following a successful run on Broadway.

Resonating with the sentiments of Edward Elbee's "Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf" this take on marital and familial strife is bitter, darkly humorous and delivered tightly timed with acute observation to little details. The casting sees Tom Ellis, of Miranda fame, in the role of Curtis, son of the unhappily married Ben and Rita played by Nicholas Day and Ilsa Blair respectively.

WHAT IS THE LYONS ABOUT?

Ben Lyons, the patriarch of the Lyons family, is dying of cancer and is determined not to go quietly. As the family gathers around his hospital bed, surface compassion dissipates rapidly and old wounds are aired. Trapped in a loveless marriage for 40 years, Ben's wife Rita gleefully makes home redecoration plans while their adult children Curtis and Lisa's sibling rivalry flares up even before reaching the hospital room in which most of the play is set.

Caustic dialogue cuts-to-the-quick as the family members tear into each other, culminating in an escalation of emotional tension that ultimately comes crashing down about them. As the ruins smolder, it is almost possible to glimpse the bruised humanity of a broken family.