| For many years even
to have a copy of this play in one's home was something akin
to pornography.
Contemporary critics were virulent in their
attacks:
...An open drain: a loathsome sore unbandaged...
Morbid, unhealthy and disgusting...
Nauseating and menacing....
As foul and filthy a concoction as has ever been allowed
to disgrace the boards of an English theatre.. The play examines a town's tribute to a prominent citizen,
and his widow's attempts to come to terms with the real truth
of the man's life. The present is constantly echoing to ghosts
from the past ...the ripples, both emotional and physical that
cannot be escaped....most vividly in the life-threatening disease
that has been passed on to his son. A moving and challenging
play that is still strongly relevant today.
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