About the Play:

The Vertical Hour is a full-length drama by David Hare. A former American war correspondent turned academic is sure of her place in the world and her opinion of it. Until, that is, she meets a man, an equally opinionated and lethally charming man – her boyfriend's father – over a weekend in the Welsh countryside. His intervention has far-reaching consequences for them all.

The Vertical Hour is an elegant and eloquent thriller of culpability, charged with sexual tension and the clash of ideologies. It is also a finely tuned emotional examination of an estranged father and son. Philip has brought his American fiancée, Nadia, to meet his reclusive father, Oliver. She is a former Christiane Amanpour-style television reporter and Professor of International Relations at Yale, who has advised the President and seen action in the Balkans and the Middle East, and is notorious among liberals for her public support of the war in Iraq. Oliver is an urbane doctor and serial philanderer, living in rural seclusion on the Welsh border. As day bleeds into night, Nadia and Oliver engage in heated discussions about love, death, marriage, parenthood, and politics. More than just political ties are revealed as Oliver unveils more about his past, and why he's living so far outside of London. These emotional confrontations force Nadia to reassess not only her long-held beliefs but also her relationship with Philip. He is the linch-pin to their separate troubles and their shared despair. The phrase "the vertical hour" comes from military medical parlance referring to the critical nature of the first 60 minutes after trauma; it's the hour during which the course of events can be significantly changed. The evening on Oliver's patio is such a time; a thought-provoking exploration of how the political can sometimes intersect, collide with and ultimately dismantle the personal.

The Vertical Hour premiered in 2006 at The Music Box Theatre on Broadway. Its UK premiere was in 2008 at the Royal Court Theatre and was the fastest selling new play in the Royal Court's history. Since then the play has been successfully staged at several professional theatres and has been mounted by colleges and community theatres.

Cast: 2 female, 3 male

What people say:

"If you want a definition of good drama, this is it a rich, intellectually gripping play." — The Guardian

"Hare's smart… new drama… [is] intellectually bracing and, at times, emotionally resonant." — The Chronicle of Higher Education

About the Playwright:

Sir David Hare is one of Britain's most internationally performed playwrights. He was born in Sussex in 1947. A writer of social themes, David Hare has been Associate Director of the National Theatre in London since 1984. He was knighted in 1998 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.