- Sophie
"How can the End be the Beginning Again when All Seems Lost"
The world premiere of "Sophie", by an American writer, Bryon Willis, a vital, touching and poetic piece was performed with empathy and compassion by two young actresses, Tori Hart and Erin Hurme at the Edinburgh Fringe. Who is Sophie? asks the posters and flyers. Sophie Large, an English girl, was killed in a car accident on February 10th 1998 when she was just 19 years old. She was in the process of bringing a fringe show to the Edinburgh Fringe. But her emerging creative talent, her zest for life, her youthful ambitions and natural beauty was destroyed in an instant. Thankfully, as a writer, she had kept a journal, with diary entries, poetry and stories that has been preserved. Her parents, Stephen and Cherry Large could not let her name and her voice be forgotten and it has been their positive initiative to produce this play.
"Sophie" is a simple, intimate two-hander of two characters, both called Sophie, two identities of the same girl, a school girl aged around 14 and an older teenager, a young playwright 19. They meet at a railway station, both alone and lost, waiting for the train that may never come. They make friends, thoughts, feelings about growing up, meeting boys, they share crisps and biscuits and realise they have a great deal in common, especially literature, poetry and a real sense of creative imagination. Through the tightly constructed 50 minutes, we get to know Sophie, her intimate private world, her fears and above all her dream of being a writer.
Sophie wrote in her journal about her experience of train journeys and sitting alone in stations.
"And trains, vast heaves of agonising noise,
a flicker of faces, coffee cups,
Framed by black -
Flick flick flick, swoosh,
Gone"A book of Sophie's early writings, Sophie's Log, has been published by her family under the scheme, Sophie's Silver Lining Fund to help gifted young actors and singers. Dame Judi Dench is the patron of this valuable theatre charity. This anthology has been warmly praised.
"Sophie's ambition, breathless excitement and despairs recall the young Sylvia Plath"
The Times Educational Supplement"This is an extraordinary and moving anthology"
Joanna Trollope.Sophie is being produced by the Silverlining Theatre Company. Check out their Web site.
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