Knives in Hens

(Paperback)

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Description

'I have no name for the thing which is in my head. It is not envy. It is more than envy. It does not scare me. I must look close enough to look at what it is.'
A ploughman and his wife live a simple existence in a pre-industrial time until they, along with the hated local miller, are drawn into a struggle of knowledge, power and attraction.
David Harrower's haunting play established him as one of the UK's leading contemporary playwrights. This new edition is published to coincide with the new production of this tense modern classic at the Donmar Warehouse in August 2017, directed by Yal Farber.

Reviews

An outstanding . . . play, David Harrower's Knives in Hens is set in a God-fearing, pre-industrial world and deals, passionately and intelligently with a woman's discovery of a language that corresponds with her feelings . . . A remarkable debut. * Guardian *
David Harrower's remarkable debut as a professional dramatist creates a haunting, poetic and entirely individual world of its own. I have never seen a play quite like it. . . You leave the theatre in no doubt that you have watched one of the year's most heartening and accomplished debuts. Harrower already seems like a writer built to last. * Daily Telegraph *
If one definition of a classic is that it constantly yields new meanings, then David Harrower's play deserves the title...**** -- The Guardian
It is an atmospheric, powerful piece. -- Sarah Crompton, What's On Stage
I was awed by its linguistic verve...So watertight is the writing, though, that its profundity and mystery remain intact. -- The Telegraph
...the language is taut and visceral and the dramatic impetus slow but inexorable. -- Neil Norman, Express.com
...stark, strange modern classic...Harrower's language is curt and harsh: the cast hack the story out with it, carving the air with terse, hard, poetic interactions. -- Time Out

Author Bio

David Harrower is a Scottish playwright, based in Glasgow. His first play, Knives in Hens, was premiered at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre in 1995. Subsequent plays include Kill the Old Torture Their Young, Presence, Dark Earth, Blackbird, and 365. Harrower has also written adaptations including The Chrysalids, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Ivanov, and Woyzeck. Translations include The Girl on the Sofa, a translation of the Jon Fosse play as well as Schiller's Romantic tragedy Mary Stuart.