Synopsis
Lidless
Published by Methuen
2 Male 3 Female
It's been fifteen years since Guantánamo, fifteen years since Bashir last saw his U.S. Army interrogator, Alice
Bashir is now dying of a disease of the liver - an organ that he believes is the home of the soul
He tracks down Alice in Texas and demands that she donate half her liver as restitution for the damage wrought during her interrogations
But Alice doesn't remember Bashir - a pill trial she participated in while in the army has left her without any memory of her time there
It's only when her inquisitive fourteen-year-old daughter begins her own investigation that the fragile peace of mind that Alice's drug-induced oblivion enabled begins to falter ...
Although politically engaged and topical, the play's significance is further-reaching and taps into timeless questions
Lidless portrays the inevitable consequences of moral crimes, in spite of the lapse of time and the oblivion of the perpetrators
Guilt inexorably engenders retribution with a horrible symmetry, so come-uppance is exacted upon what is held most dear
David Hare awarded Lidless the 2009 Yale Drama Series Award for Playwriting
A work of extraordinary intelligence and finely-balanced sensibility, it marries the implacable logic of a Greek tragedy with an all-too-modern setting
"Intelligent [and] impassioned" ~ Dominic Maxwell, The Times
"Potent and seething with justified indignation" ~ Maxine Szalwinska, Sunday Times
"The story grips and the characters are well drawn, demonstrating the complexities of human nature and the ability people have to put morals to one side" ~ Daisy Bowie-Sell, Daily Telegraph
"This is vital new writing from a talented new voice" ~ Independent