Living Room in Africa
by Bathsheba Doran

Name: Living Room in Africa
Brand: Bathsheba Doran
SKU: 9780573663451
Rating: 3.22 (9 reviews)

Living Room in Africa Book Cover — Living Room in Africa Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

Present DayInterior Set

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the focus on the impactful issue of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. They support the play's aim to raise awareness about this significant social tragedy, though some felt it fell short in execution.

Compelling social issue addressedStrong awareness-raising aimExecution could have been better

Synopsis

Childhood friends, Edward and Marie, have moved to a village in Africa while Edward is setting up a museum there with money from the West.

Within weeks it becomes apparent that they have moved to an area devastated by AIDS.

Questions about their own personal and political responsibilities become impossible to ignore and as Edward becomes increasingly anxious to leave, Marie makes the unexpected decision to stay there without him.

When news of Edward's imminent departure reaches Anthony, the African contractor for the gallery, he goes to beg Edward, for the last time, to help him escape to America, forcing the couple into a final analysis of what their experience in Africa means to them, and what they mean to each other.

Press Reviews

"Ms. Doran has mapped out a situation worthy of a Conrad or Naipul novel."
— The New York Times

"Bathsheba Doran's direct, thought-provoking Living Room in Africa aims to shine the flickering light of Western attention on the so-called Dark Continent, and especially on the suffering wrought there by AIDS."
— Time Out New York

"Definitely a writer worth watching, starting with this play."
— CurtainUp

"Doran is a terrific playwright who never resorts to sermonizing. Moreover, her attention to character and detail is excellent."
— TheaterMania

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Edward late twenties/ early thirties	—	—	late twenties/ early thirties
Mark mid twenties	—	—	mid twenties
Anthony mid twenties	—	—	mid twenties
Nsugo late twenties/early thirties	—	—	late twenties/early thirties
Michael Lee early sixties	—	—	early sixties
Marie late twenties/early thirties	—	—	late twenties/early thirties