DUET
written by Otho Eskin
directed by Ludovica Villar-Hauser

Theatre at the Tabard 
Chiswick, London, UK
April 19th - May 11th, 2024. 

There was a celebratory performance on Sunday, April 21st, 2024 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Eleonora Duse’s death.

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SYNOPSIS 
When Sarah Bernhardt arrives unexpectedly at Eleonora Duse’s dressing room one rainy night in 1924, the lines are quickly drawn for a pitched battle between these two divas of the modern stage. What ensues is the culmination of forty years of rage, jealousy, betrayal and the contempt each bears for the other’s art. Finally, when it appears nothing’s been left unsaid, Bernhardt has one more thing to tell Duse –– the last thing Duse wants to hear. Critically-acclaimed, award-winning playwright Otho Eskin has written a riveting, provocative play about a battle of wits and cunning, fear and loss between two of the most brilliant theatre artists who ever lived. 
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CAST:
Wendy Morgan (she/her) – Sarah Bernhardt
Cynthia Straus (she/her) – Eleonara Duse
Nick Waring (he/him) – The Man

TEAM
Playwright: Otho Eskin (he/him)
Director: Ludovica Villar-Hauser (she/her)
Key art design: Christopher Lione (he/him)
Producer: Parity Productions, Authentic Voices, Sarah Berger, Cahoots Theatre Company
Costume Designer: Alice McNicholas (she/her)
Set and Props Designer: Hazel Grace Owen (she/her)
Lighting Designer: Carly Altberg (she/her)
​Sound Designer: Kristina Kapilin (she/her)
Production Stage Manager:  Sandra Szaron (she/her)
PR, Social Media + Copywriting: Nicki Probets (she/her)



Previous: 
We Are Here Festival 2020, London UK
Thursday April 2nd, 7:30PM
Saturday April 4th, 5PM

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Otho Eskin's plays include Act of God, Murder As A Fine Art, Season In Hell, Julie and Duet. Duet has been produced in Washington, DC and New York and in Italy, Australia, Croatia, Slovenia, Russia, Latvia and Serbia as well as in several regional theaters in the U.S. Duet has been broadcast on Croatian National Radio and published in the Italian theater journal Prima Fila. Otho Eskin served in the United States Foreign Service in Syria, Yugoslavia, Iceland and Berlin, in what was then East Germany. He was director of the United States Department of State's Office of Ocean Law and Policy and Office of Advanced Technology; vice-chairman of the US delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea; principal US negotiator of several international agreements and US representative to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
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"...this is an absorbing evening."
-Simon Thomsett at the Chiswick Calendar

  “...a charming piece.”
“Duet... becomes more than just a curiosity or ghost story – and lifts itself perhaps into the realms of a gentle love affair… certainly a love of the theatre and performance.”
-Bohemian Britain

 “...a snapshot from a bygone age.”  
“Villar-Hauser’s direction brings to the fore the two leads’ inner states. She is aided by Hazel Owen’s atmospheric, musty backstage setting.”
-Chiswick Calendar

“Ludovica Villar-Hauser’s unostentatious staging neatly cuts from their dialogue to flashbacks and reminiscences.”
-Spy in the Stalls
 
 “A special mention for the elegant costumes recreated by Alice McNichols and the dramatic lighting by Carly Altberg.”
-London Pub Guide