Forty Winks

Synopsis

A London home that shifts through time, where memories and desires intertwine across generations.

Don, a man haunted by his past, returns to visit his old friends after many years away. He reunites with Diana, his former love now widowed, her husband Howard, their friend Charlie, and Diana’s narcoleptic daughter Hermia. As the play unfolds across different time periods, we witness the complex web of relationships and repressed desires that bind these characters together. Don’s return stirs up old feelings in Diana, leading to a secret intimate encounter. Meanwhile, Hermia shockingly confesses her sexual fantasies about Don. Years later, Don returns to scatter his mother’s ashes, only to confront an aged Howard and Hermia’s daughter Celia, who eerily resembles her mother in youth.

Elyiot’s non-linear narrative and poetic dialogue create a dreamlike atmosphere that blurs the boundaries between past and present. The play’s circular structure reinforces themes of memory and regret, as characters grapple with the consequences of their choices and the cruel tricks of fate.