This hour-long futuristic nightmare envisions a world where the promise of violence broods and nothing is to be trusted. Written by the celebrated author of Top Girls and Cloud Nine, this innovative work consists of three brief scenes. In the first, a young girl spending her first night in her new guardian’s house witnesses a bloody slaughter. Next, the girl, now grown, is spending her first day working in a hat factory. There, she and a young man create funny and elaborate hats that are to be worn for a horrific purpose. In the final scene, the boy and girl, now wed, are seeking refuge from a global conflict even the animals are on one side or another.
Far Away must be performed on its own, as a single evening of theatre.
Far Away was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London on 24 November 2000. The production transferred to the Albery Theatre in the West End on 18 January 2001. The play received its American premiere at the New York Theatre Workshop on 1 November 2002.