Nuffield Theatre

3^rd to 6^th October 2001

Director notes:

Some years ago, I saw a production of Skylight by David Hare at Salisbury Playhouse. It was a stunning production in all respects, beautifully acted and directed, but I was particularly struck by three things: firstly, by the exquisitely crafted dialogue for which Hare is understandably renowned; secondly, by the empathy with which he explores the female mind and character; and thirdly, by the breathtaking skill of Stella Gonet in delivering a wonderful performance whilst preparing and cooking an entire Spaghetti Bolognese which she and Bill Nighy then proceeded to eat! The memory of those wafting aromas is with me as I write!

And so, some 3 months ago, I found myself in the joyous but fearful position of directing this great play, Amy’s View, with the huge responsibility of doing justice both to my cast, and the master of his craft, David Hare.

I hope the play will strike as many chords with you as it has with me on this short, but significant, journey. Its themes are universal - grief and betrayal, family relations and conflict, love and loss - all thrown into sharp focus through the relationship between Esme, a successful actress, and Dominic, the up and coming cultural monolith with an agenda that threatens her traditional views on the theatre. Amy, Esme’s daughter whose view is that ‘love conquers all’, is the battleground over whom the conflict is played out over a decade and a half.

As in Skylight, the characters are not politicians or public figures, but ordinary people, with neighbours, lovers and family. The play is about grief and happiness, about the role of theatre, both as an art form and in modern life; it’s about having money and not wanting it, wanting money and not having it, and the tragedy of putting off reconciliation until it’s too late. It’s about the fundamental ‘alone-ness’ of the human spirit. That’s my view - but I leave the last word with the writer:

“My purpose in writing Amy’s View was to do something blindingly simple yet still distressingly rare: to put modern women’s lives on the stage in a way which I hope women might recognise.”

On the music Belinda Drew wrote;

“For me, music is an integral part of any production, and for Amy’s View, my concept was clear and simple: English, 20th Century, piano. There was the added challenge of finding something to fulfil David Hare’s very specific stage direction in Act 4 for ‘the overwhelming sound of a string orchestra’. In Gerald Finzi’s ‘Eclogue’. I believe I found the perfect combination of all my desired elements. Originally written as the slow movement of an intended piano concerto, Finzi died before completion, and the 12 minute piece was posthumously published in its own right. I hope you will love it as much as we have come to, with its poignancy of themes and harmonies.”