Heidi Thomas
Indigo

Possession and betrayal are the principal themes of this vividly poetic drama. Set in the late 18th century, Indigo is the story of two young men: Ide, an African prince, and William, son of a Liverpudlian slave merchant. Both are caught up in the ruthless commerce of the slave trade. Ideals are destroyed and innocence confounded before the play is brought to its brutal conclusion. Indigo was premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of the 1987-88 season at Stratford-upon-Avon. (Cast 6+m, 1+f, 3b)

“...much of Indigo’s delicate power resides in its passages of introspection, where characters are becalmed by the intensity and weight of their emotions, and where thought briefly replaces action. Indigo is a play of soliloquies, and it insists that we concentrate not just on what people do, but on the tissue of motive, belief and speculation by which they shape and colour their lives.”
~ Andrew Rissik, The Independent

“... beautifully structured monologues, studded with fine phrases...”
~ Michael Coveney, The Financial Times

“...it is a long time since a new writer revelled in such a fizzy and restless landscape of imagery...”
~ Michael Ratcliffe, The Observer

“Thomas’s play hums with dramatic invention, sweeping confidently between pungent insights and grand, haunting imagery ... the final scenes are among the most searing in British drama for several years.”
~ Jim Hiley, The Listener

“Indigo is something of an epic.”
~ Isabel Arro, What’s On

Heidi Thomas
Shamrocks and Crocodiles

Dominic and Christine, the Liverpool-born son and daughter of a Dublin family, are shocked by the death of their father, Eddie Massey, at the age of forty-two. In their search for the truth they discover a violent world of shady business deals and racketeering. Shamrocks and Crocodiles won the Arts Council’s John Whiting Award for the Best New Play of 1986 and a Thames Television Bursary Award. (Cast 3+m, 2f)

“Here is a sensational new author writing with a flowing lyricism which has overtones of Dylan Thomas... The language is both rich and apt, singing in its poetic cadences.”
~ Marjorie Bates Murphy, The Stage

“...funny, touching, and real ... The piece breathes the air of a specific region, speaks with its own rhythms...”
~ Martin Hoyle, The Financial Times

“...a piece of fine, powerful writing...”
~ Robin Thornber, The Guardian