Hebden Bridge Web

Jenny Gore, the Director, writes, "David Greig is a prolific playwright, but is relatively unknown outside his native Scotland, even though his plays have been performed in the West End to much acclaim. His plays can be taken on a surface level, but the meaning can be open to more interesting interpretations. He has said that some of his recurring themes are death and rebirth and people’s sense of growing rootlessness.

"This play is ostensibly about a man who is found in the snow at the foothills of the Pyrenees in France, suffering from amnesia. He is found clutching a scallop shell, the sign of a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela. He is taken to an inn on the slopes with a strange proprietor, Pedro, who has multiple personas.

"A young woman from the British consulate is sent to try to discover his identity, and they develop a magnetic connection. Then, into the action comes Vivienne who claims to be his wife. Who, if anyone, is telling the truth?

"Are they in the real world, or is this a kind of purgatory? Pedro is Spanish for Peter. Perhaps this is a clue that the mysterious cloud-shrouded mountain pass is indeed the gates of heaven. The man speaks frequently of the sea, undertows, dolphins, and he holds a shell. He is said to have feigned his own death by walking into the sea but he feels as if he is reborn.