Welcome to the The Old Vic and this

introduction to The Divide by Alan

Ayckbourn, directed by Annabel Bolton.

The audio described performance is on

Saturday 10 February at 1.30pm and lasts

for approximately 3 hours 50 minutes with

an interval of 20 minutes. There will be a

touch tour at 10.30 am where you will be

able to explore the set and meet members

of the production team. The touch tour is

free but if you would like to join it please

contact the box office 0344 871 7628 to

reserve a place.

The Old Vic website tells us that: ‘The Divide unfolds in a dystopian society of repression and seething insurrection. In the aftermath of a

deadly contagion which has decimated the population, contact between men and women has become fatal. Under the dictates of an elusive and authoritarian Preacher, an unthinkable solution has been enforced. The adult survivors are now segregated by gender and physically separated, men wear white as a sign of their purity and women – still deemed infected – are clothed in black as a mark of their sin.’

In an interview in the printed programme,

the playwright, Alan Ayckbourn, describes

The Divide as a narrative for voices. He

says ‘It’s all dialogue, but not conversation, in the sense that I

started writing two diaries, those of Soween and her brother Elihu, as they grow up. Then, to give it some triangulation, I started adding minutes of council or committee meetings – some very right wing councillors, some liberal or left’. After that, says

Ayckbourn, it seemed natural to add the

voices of the people referred to in the

diaries or the minutes, but he reiterates

that the result is not a play.

When we enter the auditorium the stage

of The Old Vic is open to us. The setting is

monochrome. The floor is black. The

entire back wall is covered in a dark grey

silk curtain which drapes softly. Across the

top is a banner where bold, white, capital

letters spell out the words ‘THE DIVIDE’

on a black background. This banner is an

indicator board during the performance.

As the scenes unfold captions appear on

the banner announcing the time and place

of the scene, always white against the

black; sometimes this text is neatly

typewritten, sometimes it is hand written.

The scene is set in preparation for a book

launch. On the left, facing us is a huge

image of a book cover. It reaches almost

to the banner at the top and fills about a

third of the available space. A large image

on the cover depicts a human head and

shoulders, the face is blank and

featureless. The image is divided by a

sharp vertical line the half on the left is

black and on the right white. In the

background behind the white image is a

photograph of a bleak grey landscape,

The background behind the black image is

black and white photograph of an intricate

pattern. At the top is the book title, The

Divide, at the bottom, the name of the

author, Soween Clay.

On the right stands a large clear table on

a frame of metal legs on wheels. A water

carafe and glass stand on the table with a

book stand. It is here that the story is

introduced by the adult Soween. She

strides on confidently, her flame-coloured

short hair catching the light, and engages

us in the manner of a visiting lecturer.

Soween is stylish in a dove-grey pantsuit

with a draped low cut top and wide legged

trousers, set off with a choker of multi

coloured beads and black low-heeled

shoes.

On either side of the space stands a

curved rail at about waist height, with a

broad grey padded top. These rails are

identical.

Each one is supported on narrow legs.

The rails run from the front corners of the

space towards the front centre, before

curving in a right angle towards the back,

leaving a gap between them of about half

the width of the stage.

The stage itself is sometimes empty and

at other times simple items of furniture are

brought in or removed by the cast when

the location changes.

The grey curtains on the back of the

space provide an area for projection of

writing, images which suggest location

and they sometimes open fully to reveal

the black clad choir. At other times a

section of the curtain draws back to reveal

on open door to another area.

The book cover is soon replaced by a

projection on the back curtain of childish

writing and we now meet the author,

young Soween, who will be our guide as

the performance continues. When we first

meet her she is about 9 years old. She

bounces in, eager in grey school uniform

of pale round necked sweatshirt,

shapeless grey skirt, long grey socks and

clumpy grey shoes, her strawberry blonde

hair pulled tightly back from her pale face

and tamed into a long plait. Soween’s face

is narrow and her big blue eyes uncertain.

She canters about with unfocused energy,

hunching her shoulders from time to time

and glancing sideways when she feels

uncertain.

Her brother Elihu is more restrained. He’s

a pale faced boy with a shock of dark hair,

who wears an almost identical uniform to

his sister’s, distinguished only by his short

ankle socks.

Their parents, Mapa and Mama, are

dressed from head to foot in black, as are

all the adult women. They wear a fitted

round necked jacket over an ankle length

skirt and flat shoes, their hair hidden

beneath a brimless bonnet. Mapa is a

doctor; she strides about determinedly,

head forward, hands often gripping her

briefcase and occasionally clasped behind

her back. She has pale brown skin and

beady dark eyes which glint behind her

spectacles.

Mama is shorter and rounder. She loves

to cuddle her children, but sits quietly in

the background until they need her,

unless she is appearing with a tray of tea

or snoozing in a corner. Her pale wedge-

shaped face is generally calm: she’s a

woman who knows her place and stays

there.

As the story unfolds, some of Soween’s

classmates join her, all identically dressed

in school uniform. Sassa is conventionally

pretty, with white-blonde hair, ivory skin

and a wide infectious smile. Axi is just a

little older and well aware of it – she’s a

graceful self-possessed girl with an oval

face, alabaster skin and long reddish

brown hair. She is often in the company of

Giella, a lively girl with big brown eyes,

dark complexion and rounded features,

her curly hair restrained with difficulty into

the regulation plait.

Elihu, on the other hand, is only

occasionally accompanied by one

schoolmate, the boisterous Fergo. Taller

and heavier than Elihu, Fergo often

behaves like an embryonic rugby player,

pushing and butting the slighter boy as a

matter of course. He has a jutting chin and

pale face with close cropped dark hair.

Elihu is entrusted to a tutor, Rudgrin,

whose role is to prepare him to cross the

divide into the world of men in the North. .

Rudgrin is very tall, with a balding pate

and tufts of bushy grey hair sprouting at

his temples and the nape of his neck. His

long and pallid face is often melancholy.

Rudgrin wears a white hoodie, and snow

white trousers, lumpily tucked into long

socks below the knee. Like all the other

adults, he wears practical round-toed flat

shoes, but his are white, of course. He

also wears a visor – a see-through mask

of white fabric, which hangs around his

neck and is used when out and about as

necessary. Women carry a similar mask in

black.

The Council is made up of a dozen

women, all identically dressed, with any

hint of individuality eliminated, so that only

height and build distinguish them. One

leading progressive, referred to as

Councillor Nivess, is particularly upright,

with square face and piercing eyes as she

squares up to the orthodox Mapa, and the

business-like Clerk is immediately

recognisable by her lilting Welsh accent.

Cast and creatives

The older Soween is played by Buffy

Davis, and her schoolgirl self by Erin

Doherty

Elihu (ELL–ee- hoo) is played by Jake

Davies

Mapa is Thusita Jayasundera, and Mama

is Finty Williams

Sassa is Sophie Melville

And Axi is played by Joanne McGuinness

Giella (hard G) is played by Weruche

Opia

Fergo is Martin Quinn

Tutor Rudgrin is played by Richard Katz

The Councillors are played by members

of the cast

The lighting is designed by David Plater,

and the sound by Bobby Aitken

The music is composed by Christopher

Nightingale

The set is designed by Laura Hopkins

The director is Annabel Bolton