An extraordinary story of two girls struggle to find a voice...
Shared Experience and Sherman Cymru join forces to portray the extraordinary story of identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons. Refusing to speak to adults, the twins communicate in their own private language, their only relationship being an intense and turbulent bond with each other. Speechless is a portrayal of the twins secret world and their struggle to find a voice against all odds.
Inspired by the best-selling book The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace, Polly Teale and Linda Brogan's powerful new play is an astonishing and moving portrayal of the secret world of a very special but ultimately destructive alliance between two sisters.
Speechless is directed and co-written by the company's joint Artistic Director, Polly Teale. Celebrated for her potent visual and imaginative style, Polly won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director for her own play After Mrs Rochester, which also won the Time Out Award for Best West End Production.
Jennifer
June
Kennedy
Cast
Mrs Gibbons
Writer
Director
Movement DIrector
Composer / Sound
Designer
Natasha Gordon
Demi Oyediran
Alex Robertson
Katie Lightfoot
Anita Reynolds
Linda Brogan
Polly Teale
Liz Ranken
Peter Salem
Naomi Dawson
North Wall, Oxford
14 - 17 Sep
Box Office: 01865 319 450
Hall for Cornwall, Truro
20 - 24 Sep
Box Office: 01872 262 466
The Lighthouse, Poole
28 - 29 Sep
Box Office: 0844 406 8666
The Brewhouse, Taunton
30 Sep - 1 Oct
Box Office: 01823 283 244
The Nuffield, Southampton
4 - 8 Oct
Box Office: 023 8067 1771
11 - 15 Oct
Box Office: 0121 446 3232
West Yorkshire Playhouse
19 - 22 Oct
Box Office: 0113 213 7700
Arcola, London
26 Oct - 19 Nov
Box Office: 020 7503 1646
The Lowry, Manchester
22 - 26 Nov
Box Office: 0843 208 6000
★★★★
It's an astounding story, and it makes for a riveting play... BRILLIANT
Compelling... Gorgeously acted
★★★★
Emotionally nuanced and entirely absorbing
The Times (subscription) ›
Mesmerising... Gripping... Poignant... Thought provoking.... Wider political questions are made tangible in the most intimate forms of experience.
Heartbreaking... Astonishing... So good it will leave you tongue tied.
Surprisingly funny... intensely intimate... Superb.
A pair of luminescent and unflinching performances from Natasha Gordon and Demi Oyediran
The Herald
This overwhelming new play by Linda Brogan and Polly Teale... Astonishing... Superb... This one has Fringe First written all over it.
Whatsonstage.com ›
Captures a huge resonating and conflicting world of Colonial history... A profoundly serious piece of theatre.
The Scotsman
Natasha Grogan
Sun 2nd December 2012 11:21:10
Speechless was spellbinding , as being a twin myself i knew exactly how the actress's portraying the twins felt , it was a brilliant production , which evoked true power through the acting and physical theatre. Would definitely recommend.
Joseph Schofield
Thu 24th November 2011 22:09:55
An utterly absorbing and brilliant production! Some members of the party I was with felt, unfortunately, compelled to leave before the end of the show - perhaps they found the more adult scenes offensive etc. I feel totally embarrassed by their reaction, but I suppose this can only be expected from some audiences. To contrast their behaviour, I feel compelled to reiterate how inspiring I found this play. We are using Shared Experience as the model for our AS Theatre Studies production and watching your play, seeing the total immersion of the actors, the power of their craft, was both a joy and a stimulus for our own work. I feel privileged to have watched the show tonight, which was also on a practical note (as a student) great value for money! Congratulations to all involved.
Botzarelli
Fri 21st October 2011 16:21:23
Very interesting, excellently acted, staged and lit. Well worth watching but it seemed to me to have left too much of the underlying true story out to provide a context to make it real.
http://botzarelli.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/speechless-the-silent-twins/