A Very Expensive Poison
by Lucy Prebble
September 5, 2019 Old Vic Theatre
Optional Supplemental/Background Information
The following information gives some contextual information about the play including details about the playwright and the history of the story and the original production. It is intended for you to use as much or as little as interests you and is in no way required for you to be familiar with it in regards to our discussions.
SCOTT’S TAKE
Lucy has become one of my favorite working British playwrights. Her subject matter is broad even if her output is minimal. Her approach to storytelling is infused with such creativity and mixing of styles that it’s a miracle that the plays somehow hold together. One of her mentors is Anthony Neilson (THE LYING KIND and THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISSOCIA). He was set to direct the revival of her play THE EFFECT in London in 2020 that we had purchased tickets to see. He shares his approach to theatre in the article linked to here. It is certainly easy to see this approach in Lucy’s work as well.
Items below marked with *** were also included in the supplementary matrial for ENGRON.
***PLAYWRIGHT: LUCY PREBBLE
Lucy Prebble is one of the most distinguished among a recent surge of young female British playwrights over the last couple of decades. Even though she’s written only four plays in her professional career, each one has further established her reputation for quality and creativity. She also writes regularly for film, video games, and television including SUCCESSION.
Theatre Credits:
The Sugar Syndrome (2003): Produced at the Royal Court and won the prestigious George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright. Past winners include Laura Wade, Alice Birch, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, and Enda Walsh. Won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play.
ENRON (2009): Produced by Headlong at the Chichester Theatre Festival before transferring to the Royal Court and then the West End. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Play.
The Effect (2012): Produced by the National Theatre. Won Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play. We had tickets for the first London revival, to be directed by Anthony Neilson, before Covid hit.
A Very Expensive Poison (2019): Produced by the Old Vic. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Play. Won Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play. She won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for women playwrights. (Past winners include Alice Birch, Annie Baker for The Flick, and Jennifer Haley for The Nether.)
***MEDIA (Video): Dan Rebellato Interviews Lucy Prebble (1 hr 27 min.)
***MEDIA (Audio): Interview with Simon Stephens (1 hr 16 min.)
MEDIA (Audio): 2020 BBC Radio Interview with Lucy Prebble. (28 mins)
MEDIA (Audio): BBC Radio Interview with Lucy Prebble on A Very Expensive Poison Opening. (12 min.)
MEDIA (Audio): Interview with Marina Litvinenko. (10 min.)
MEDIA (Audio): BBC Radio - The Poisoning of Litvinenko. (14 min)
MEDIA (Audio): 5-part podcast series - The Litvinenko Affair.
MEDIA (Video): Documentary - Who Killed Alexander Litvinenko? (54 min.)
MEDIA (Video): Documentary - The Polonium Plot (45 min.)
LOCATIONS
Google Earth project with map of locations referenced in the play. Locations can also be found individually in the Glossary below.
GLOSSARY
Pret - Pret-A-Manger: Chain of pre-made sandwich shops that proliferate London.
Chris Grayling - Conservative Member of Parliament in charge of the British government’s Justice Department.
NHS - National Health Service - the public healthcare service in England.
Ciprofloxacin - a general antibiotic used to treat a wide array of bacterial infections.
Alpha, beta, and gamma rays - Alpha particles cannot penetrate most matter. A piece of paper or the outer layers of skin is sufficient to stop alpha particles. Radioactive material that emits alpha particles can be very harmful when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed into the blood stream through wounds. Beta particles can be stopped by a layer of clothing or by a few millimeters of a substance such as aluminum. Beta particles are capable of penetrating the skin and causing radiation damage, such as skin burns. As with alpha emitters, beta emitters are most hazardous when they are inhaled or swallowed or absorbed into the blood stream through wounds. Gamma rays are penetrating. Several feet of concrete or a few inches of lead are required to stop them. Gamma rays are a radiation hazard for the entire body. While gamma rays can easily pass completely through the human body, some fraction of the energy will always be absorbed by body tissue.
Aldermaston - village west of London that is home to the Atomic Weapons Establishment, the UK’s research facility for nuclear weapons.
Polonium 210 - a radioactive material that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust at very low levels. Po-210 is a product of the radioactive decay of uranium-238. Polonium 210 has a half-life of 138 days. Po-210 emits alpha particles, which carry high amounts of energy that can damage or destroy genetic material in cells inside the body. It is a radiation hazard only if it is taken into the body through breathing or eating or by entering a wound.
Neutropenia - People with neutropenia have an unusually low number of cells called neutrophils. Neutrophils are cells in your immune system that attack bacteria and other organisms when they invade your body. Neutropenia itself often doesn't cause symptoms. In some cases, people only learn they have neutropenia when they have a blood test for an unrelated reason. It is most commonly seen--and even expected--as a result of chemotherapy used to treat cancer.
(New) Bond Street - highest density of haute couture stores anywhere in the world.
Kukli (“Dolls”) - link to the episode that brought Putin to shut down the show.
NTV - broadcast television network founded in 1991 that presented impartial news. It was openly critical of Putin who, once elected, eventually placed the network under government control and used it to promote Russian propaganda.
Spitting Image - satirical television show focused on international politicians and events launched in 1984.
Boris Berezovsky - Russian business oligarch, government official, engineer and mathematician. Targeted by Putin for assassination by Litvinenko.
FSB - Federal Security Service, formerly the KGB during the Soviet era.
Alexander Kamishnikov - Accused by Litvenenko of ordering the assasination of Berezovsky.
Wet job - assignment in which target is to be murdered.
Crocodile Gena’s Birthday Song -
Khokholkov - Litvinenko’s boss at the FSB who refused to allow Litvenenko to be pardoned.
Kovalyov - Director of the FSB from 1996-1998; Putin’s predecessor.
Andre Luguvoi - Former KGB, then FSB, agent. Itroduced to Litvinenko by Berezovsky.
Theotokos - Mary, mother of Jesus, in Eastern European Orthodoxy.
Black Widows - Islamist Chechen female suicide bombers, willing to be a manifestation of violent jihad. They became known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis of October 2002. The term of "Black Widows" probably originates from the fact that many of these women are widows of men killed by the Russian forces in Chechnya.
Dacha - A seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries.
Professor Dombey - Norman Dombey, an emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at Sussex. He has written many pieces about nuclear weapons, arguing late in 2002, for example, that Iraq did not have the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction. He was a scientific expert at the Litvinenko hearing.
Ruslan and Lludmilla - an epic fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin. It tells the story of the abduction of Ludmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir by an evil wizard and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to find and rescue her.
Tango - A UK soft drink.
DS Hoar - Detective Sergeant Chris Hoar, one of two detectives of the Metropolitan Police Service that interviewed Litvinenko in the hospital.
Anna Politskavya - a Russian journalist and human rights activist who reported on political events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War. It was her reporting from Chechnya that made Politkovskaya's national and international reputation. For seven years, she refused to give up reporting on the war despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence. Politkovskaya was arrested by Russian military forces in Chechnya and subjected to a mock execution. She was poisoned while flying from Moscow to help resolve the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis, and had to turn back, requiring careful medical treatment in Moscow to restore her health. On 7 October 2006, she was murdered in the elevator of her block of flats, an assassination that attracted international attention.
Scott’s Restaurant - Seafood restaurant in Mayfair. A favorite restaurant of Ian Fleming.
Kontora - Bureau.
The Shield and the Sword - A 1968 Soviet spy series in four parts. It was a highly influential in the Soviet Union, inspiring many, including Vladimir Putin, to join the KGB.
Roman Abramovich - Billionaire Russian oligarch and politician who is the primary owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC, and is best known outside Russia as the owner of the Chelsea Premier League football club.
Saville Row - Known for its men’s tailoring, the street has also been home to the National Geographic Society and the Beatles’ Apple headquarters where the rooftop concert for the Get Back sessions was held.
Itsu - British chain of sushi restaurants.
MOD - Ministry of Defence.
Waterstone’s Cafe - Cafe connected to British bookstore chain.
Alexander Mamut - Russian billionaire lawyer, banker and investor.
Mario Scaramella - Lawyer, security consultant and academic nuclear expert. He was responsible for intelligence analysis and production on KGB espionage in Europe.
MI - Military Intelligence
“The one with all the glass” - MI-6 (International Focus) or SIS Building on the South Bank of the Thames next to the Vauxhall Bridge.
“The one near Whitehall with the shit offices” - MI-5 (National Focus) on the north bank of the Thamex next to Lembeth Bridge.
Nigella - Nigella Lawson, English food writer and television cook.
Erinys Private Intelligence - British private security company that provide security, support, communications and logistics services for personnel and assets.
Gazprom - Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation. As of 2019, with sales over $120,000,000,000, it was ranked as the largest publicly listed natural gas company in the world and the largest company in Russia by revenue.
Hon. Charles Balfour - He was educated at Eton College, admitted to the Royal Company of Archers, and was managing director of the NASDAQ.
David West - Founded a wholesale business on a double decker bus in Calais selling cheap alcohol and cigarettes on the back of a lorry. His business moved to permanent premises and was named EastEnders, which is now a part of the largest British owned cash and carry group in Europe. It also has its own house wine labels, "The Dogs Bollocks" and "Menage a Trois". Upon his return to London in 2002 West opened St James's based nightclub HeyJo and a restaurant Abracadabra. He was killed by his son during a drunken argument in 2014.
Crown Prosecution Service - Principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.
Mayak - Nuclear plant in Russia.
Malaysian Arilines MH17 - Passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on 17 July 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. The responsibility for investigation was delegated to the Dutch Safety Board who concluded that the airliner was downed by a surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine. The missile had been transported from Russia on the day of the crash, fired from a field in a rebel-controlled area and the launch system returned to Russia afterwards. The governments of the Netherlands and Australia held Russia responsible and were pursuing legal routes as of May 2018. The Russian government denied involvement in the shooting down of the airplane, and its account of how the aircraft was shot down has varied over time.
Sir Robert Owen’s conclusion - Link to copy of Government’s report.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2002 - Liquid
2003 - The Sugar Syndrome
2010 - ENRON
2012 - The Effect
2019 - A Very Expensive Poison