Only The End of the World
Play Circle was an intimate public workshop in which actors read a script for the very first time before a live audience. Performed with the cast seated amongst the audience, the reading blurs the line between stage and spectators, creating a unique shared experience. After the reading, audiences were invited to enjoy refreshments with the actors and join a lively discussion about the play, guided by a guest director.
even if you don't admit it,
even if you never were to admit it,
you must've needed us sometimes,
and regretted you couldn’t tell us.
Louis is dying. One Sunday he returns to his hometown, planning to tell his family about his diagnosis. Walking into the house he abandoned twelve years ago, he finds his mother, sister and brother exactly as he remembered them. They say they’re happy to see him, but his sudden appearance stirs old resentments and rivalries—and Louis is reminded of why he left.
Written in 1990, four years after his HIV diagnosis, Lagarce’s personal, poetic family drama was made into a film by Xavier Dolan in 2016, starring Marion Cotillard and Léa Seydoux. This reading, a rare outing for the play in the UK, is directed by Júlia Levai.
Cast
Matthew Beard
Rory Fleck Byrne
Safiyya Ingar
Abigail Lawrie
Justine Mitchell
Creative Team
Director: Júlia Levai
Producers: Alastair Curtis, David Doyle
This event was organised by Alastair Curtis, as part of the Associate Artists Programme.
Dates and Times
Thu 9 October 2025
Location
Studio 5, London Performance Studios
For more info on how to get to London Performance Studios, click here
About
Alastair Curtis (he/him) is a writer, director and founder of The AIDS Plays Project. His writing has been published in Frieze, AnOther, The Economist, Prospect and The Observer amongst others. Sweetheart, his debut short film, premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2025.
Jean-Luc Lagarce was a French actor, director and playwright who published 25 plays in his lifetime. In 1978, he co-founded the Théâtre de La Roulotte, where he directed works by Pierre de Marivaux, Eugène Marin Labiche, and Eugène Ionesco. ‘Only The End of the World’ is part of an autobiographical trilogy including ‘I was waiting in the house for the rain to come’ and ‘The Faraway Country.’ Since his AIDS-related death in 1995, at age of 38, his work has been rediscovered and widely produced in France.
Júlia Levai is a theatre director and dramaturg from Budapest, based in London. She most recently directed the critically acclaimed premiere of Nancy Netherwood’s ‘Radiant Boy’ (★★★★★, WhatsOnStage) at Southwark Playhouse. Júlia regularly works at the National Theatre as Staff Director, Script Reader and Mentor Director for NT Connections. She has also worked as Assistant/Associate Director at theatres such as the RSC, Royal Court, and the Young Vic. Júlia is an MGCFutures bursary recipient.
09/10
