Henri Nouwen (1932 – 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest, psychologist and professor who reached the heights of academic success at Yale and Harvard, before abandoning everything to join the community of L’Arche Daybreak in Toronto. He became part of a life-sharing movement, seeking to make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, exploring their unique talents and creating a welcoming home of friendship and belonging.
To some, Henri Nouwen put his brilliant career into reverse, risking the loss of reputation, to others his life was a prophetic challenge to church and society.
The Beloved Son is a moving solo performance exploring hope and longing, family dynamics, sexual and emotional crisis and the profound insights of a man who became one of the greatest spiritual writers of the Twentieth Century.
‘The Beloved Son’ began life as a play for a neuro-diverse cast of eight actors, commissioned by The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto and the Sheen Center Theater in New York.
The performance lasts for 80 mins. without an interval. The ticket price includes refreshments after the performance.
About the writer, Murray Watts.
In a career lasting nearly 50 years, Murray Watts has written many plays for theatre and radio and numerous screenplays for TV and film. Screenplays range from ‘The Dream’ for BBC starring Jeremy Irons to ‘The Miracle Maker’ for S4C/BBC/ICON, featuring the voices of Ralph Fiennes, William Hurt and Julie Christie. ‘The Miracle Maker’ won the Movieguide Epiphany Award on US TV in 2000.Theatre awards include the LWT Plays on Stage Award for ‘The Fatherland’, his play set in Soweto. In 2012 The Kings Head in London hosted a season of his plays. One of these, ‘Mr Darwin’s Tree’, premiered in Westminster Abbey in 2009. Both ‘Mr Darwin’s Tree’ and ‘Fire From Heaven’ – about Michael Faraday – have been toured with Andrew Harrison throughout the US.
Recent review: I was bowled over by ‘The Beloved Son’, both its beautifully written, elegantly crafted narrative, and also, most notably, by the breathtaking tour de force of your performance. The utter conviction of your characterisation and the apparently effortless transition between such a range of voices, all of them embodied with so much sensitivity and authenticity, was absolutely remarkable and entirely compelling. AP
