Living Room in Africa

4m, 3f / Interior 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. "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