Vincent River (play)
Vincent River is a one act stage play by Philip Ridley. It was Ridley's fourth stage play for adults and premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, London on 6 September 2000. The production was the last major collaboration between Ridley and director Mathew Lloyd, who had previously directed the majority of Ridley's other theatrical works.
It is believed that the play in part draws from Ridley's unpublished radio play October Scars the Skin which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 January 1989. The story like Vincent River involved a mother of a murdered homosexual who befriends his son's lover and also featured a character called Vincent.
Plot
The story plays out in realtime and is set in a rundown flat in Dagenham.There a woman called Anita is moving in following the death of Vincent, her son who was killed in a homophobic attack which resulted in her discovering that he was a homosexual in the aftermath of his murder.
In the play we see her interact with Davey, a boy who claims to have been the first to find Vincent's corpse and who wants to know as much as he can about Vincent from Anita.
Notable Stage Productions
| Country | Date | Location | People | Details |
| England | 6 September 2000 | The Hampstead Theatre, London. | Directed by Matthew Lloyd.
| World Premiere |
| England | 30 October 2007 | Trafalgar Studios, London. | Directed by Rebecca McCuheon. | West End Premiere |
| America | 10 June 2008 | 59E59 Theaters, New York | Directed by Steve Marmion. | American PremierePerformed as part of the Brits Off-Broadway festival. |
| Australia | 4 January 2009 | Tamarama Rock Surfers, Bondi Beach | Directed by Jonathan Wald.
| Australian Premiere |
| England | 18 May 2010 | Landor Theatre, London | Presented by Thomas Hopkins and Theatrica Ltd.Directed by Robert McWhir.
| "10th anniversary production" |
| England | 2 November 2010 | Old Red Lion Theatre, London | Presented by Charmers productions.Directed by Gary Reid.
| 2010 London revival |
| Israel | 7 August 2015 | Tahel Theatre | Israeli Premiere | |
| England | 27 February 2018 | The Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester. | Directed by John Young. | England "Regional Premiere" |
| England | 20 March 2018 | The Park Theatre, London. | Directed by Robert Chevara. | 2018 London Revival |
| Wales | 19 September 2018 | a site-specific production at Jacob's Market, Cardiff | Produced by No Boundaries Theatre.Directed by Luke Hereford.
| 2018 Cardiff Production |
On Film
In 2006 Marianne Epin and Cyrille Thouvenin starred in the play on-stage, which was filmed and released as a television movie. It is available on region 2 DVD.The play has been compared to the 2014 film, Lilting, starring Ben Whishaw, Cheng Pei Pei and Andrew Leung and written and directed by Hong Khaou. The story similar to the play is about a man who approaches the mother of his deceased gay lover to try and connect and understand their loss.