Compiling over 800 pages of letters between poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, Sarah Ruhl maps their complex relationship and reveals the beauty and chaos that comes from words on a page.

“Asking you is the ‘might have been’ for me, the one towering change, the other life that might have been had. But I am sure it is the will of the heavens that all is as it is.” Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell were two of America’s most brilliant poets. Throughout their lifetime, they wrote over 800 pages of letters to eachother, spanning decades, continents, political eras and tumultuous periods in their own lives. Their connection was messy and profound, platonic yet romantic, intense and intangible. A love that resists easy definition. These are their words – 400 letters, compiled and compressed by award-winning playwright, Sarah Ruhl.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

A poignant tale of growing up, growing old and growing (or not) wise. Following the stories of grandmothers, mothers and daughters, we see how it takes generations to learn about the true value of real feeling.

Using a kaleidoscopic time structure, Keatley’s play is a heart wrenching, bittersweet story about love, jealousy, and the price of freedom. Spanning over a period of over eighty years, the play examines the lives of four generations of women from one family. Set in Manchester, Oldham and London, the story explores how Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Roise must make difficult choices as they confront the most significant moments of their lives, all set against the backdrop of the chaotic and ever-changing twentieth century.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre