Synopsis

In A Piece Of Monologue, written in English in 1979, a speaker tells a fragment of a story about birth and death, in which the narrative details almost match those visible to us as the theatre set. The play dramatises a successive loss of company: firstly in an account of the destruction of photographs and secondly in the memories of a funeral in the rain.

'Birth was the death of him.'
– A Piece of Monologue

Director

Originally an actor, Robin Lefevre started directing with John Byrne's first play, Writer's Cramp. Subsequently he joined the Hampstead Theatre where he directed Bodies by James Saunders and Brian Friel's Translations, among other plays. Later he directed Friel's Aristocrats, for which he won a New York Drama Desk nomination for Best Director. Robin has worked extensively at several major British theatres including the Bush Theatre and also in the West End, where in 1985 he directed a production of Alan Bleasdale's Are You Lonesome Tonight?, which won the Evening Standard Best Musical award. Most recently he directed the revival of the Gate's production of Krapp's Last Tape starring John Hurt at the New Ambassador Theatre. His television work includes Alan Bleasdale's major series Jake's Progress, starring Robert Lindsay and Julie Walters, and a short film for Channel 4, Self Catering.

'Beckett burns images on your brain in the time it takes to make a sandwich.'
– Robin Lefevre

Cast

Stephen Brennan began his acting career in 1971 at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Since then he has appeared in more than 50 leading and supporting roles in productions including Brian Friel's Living Quarters, Tom Murphy's Morning After Optimism, Brian Moore's Emperor of Ice-cream and Tom Kilroy's Talbot Box, which transferred to the Royal Court, among numerous others. He has also worked in television and film.

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