About the play
"Noon at the sun. Noon at the centre of our lives". Set in Hong Kong and China at the turn of the 20th century, against the backdrop of the age of Empire and the first whispers of revolt and decolonisation, Break of Noon follows the inner journeys of four people who together depict all the multifaceted faces of Love. A modern French classic, it is a unique poetic and symbolist manifesto, in verse, on the human frailty of ambivalence and the conflicts and contradictions between physical love and spiritual faith.*
About the Playwright
Playwright Paul Claudel was born in 1868, 150 years ago, and was the younger brother of sculptor Camille Claudel was one of France’s leading writers, as well as working as a diplomat. In addition to being French consul in China, Japan, Brazil, the United States and many other countries, Claudel wrote thirty plays, twenty essays and fifteen volumes of poetry. Among his many successful plays was Tete d'Or (1890), The Exchange (1893), L'annonce faite a Marie (1910), and Le Soulier de Satin (1931), a ten-hour long exploration of human and divine love and longing, which was staged at the Comédie-Française in 1943. His work was closely associated with leading French director and actor Jean-Louis Barrault and his Compagnie Renaud-Barrault. Claudel was elected an ‘Immortal’ of L'Académie française in 1946. A devout Catholic, he dedicated the last part of his life to the study of biblical scriptures. He died in 1955.*
CREDITS
Break of Noon, Finborough Theatre, by Paul Claudel, directed by David Furlong, 27th-29th May, 3rd-5th June 2018
Presented by Exchange Theatre in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre / Director : David Furlong / Assistant Director: Anne-Christelle Zanzen / Set Design: Ninon Fandre / Lighting: Alastair Borland / Costume Design: Sarah Habib / Cast: Elizabeth Boag, David Durham, Matt Lim, Connor Williams / Photography: Exchange Theatre Company.
*Finborough Theatre - 2018
Exchange Theatre : www.exchangetheatre.com
