The Southbury Child

Stephen Beresford

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Raffish, urbane and frequently drunk, David Highland has kept a grip on his remote coastal parish through a combination of disordered charm and high-handed determination.

When his faith impels him to take a hard line with a bereaved parishioner, he finds himself dangerously isolated from public opinion. As his own family begins to fracture, David must face a future that threatens to extinguish not only his position in the town, but everything he stands for.

Stephen Beresford's play The Southbury Child is a darkly comic drama exploring family and community, the savage divisions of contemporary society, and the rituals that punctuate our lives. It was co-produced by Chichester Festival Theatre and the Bridge Theatre, London, in 2022, starring Alex Jennings and directed by Nicholas Hytner.

Book Details

Publisher: Nick Hern Books
Publish Date: Apr 18th, 2023
Pages: 112
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 7.80in - 5.10in - 0.40in - 0.30lb
EAN: 9781848429741
Categories: • European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

About the Author

Stephen Beresford trained at RADA and worked as an actor before writing for television and film, winning a BAFTA for his screenplay for the feature film Pride (2014).

His plays include: The Southbury Child (Chichester Festival Theatre & Bridge Theatre, London, 2022); Three Kings (Old Vic, London, 2020); Fanny & Alexander (Old Vic, London, 2018), a stage adaptation of the film by Ingmar Bergman; and The Last of the Haussmans (National Theatre, London, 2012).

Praise for this book

"Hugely cathartic, this is the play of the year so far... blissfully funny and ineffably touching... a heaven-sent new play." --Telegraph

"A rare and heartfelt portrait of post-Christian Britain." --The Times

"Electrifying, bristling with wit and ideas... Can almost be considered as a companion piece to Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, exploring some of the same themes in a similar setting, a clash of local cultures embedded within a fracturing national culture." --Broadway World

"Beautifully crafted... Beresford has captured a moment of change in our time... It's a cracking state of the nation piece." --WhatsOnStage

"A fine new play to soothe the soul and mend the heart... Beresford plumbs the deepest human feelings [with] a scene of savage beauty I'll never forget." --Mail on Sunday

"An impressive state-of-the-nation play... Chekhovian in intensity... deeply moving, with some fabulously funny lines, while a succession of twists ensures the drama never drops." --The Stage

"Painfully funny.... properly laugh-out-loud character comedy that gets near the knuckle and stays there... the best West Country drama I've seen since Jerusalem." --Time Out