The Splinter

In the world premiere production of Hilary Bell’s gripping play The Splinter, a husband (Erik Thomson) and wife (Helen Thomson) struggle to re-connect with their child when she inexplicably returns after a nine-month disappearance. Inspired by the Henry James novel The Turn of the Screw, the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Snow Queen and real life stories of abducted children, Bell’s play is an emotional thriller about all consuming obsession, grief and identity. Commissioned by STC and originally developed by STC’s development powerhouse, The Residents, now director Sarah Goodes and puppetry/movement director Alice Osborne create a visually rich, image-based production.

Cate: We actually commissioned [Hillary Bell] to write a play for primary school children and she came back with a play about child abduction. It was Andrew’s fault actually because as she left from that conversation he handed her Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw…

Andrew: I just thought it’d be a bit of an inspiration to her!

Cate: It’s about a couple whose child has mysteriously disappeared, possibly never to return – every parent’s nightmare – and then she’s returned to them. It takes root in the parent’s minds, particularly the husband’s, that perhaps this is a changeling – is this really their child?

(Illustration: Kareena Zerefos)