Based on the bestselling novel by Elizabeth Strout, the stage production of My Name Is Lucy Barton comes to Joburg from Wed, Oct 9 – Sun, Oct 27. Buy tickets for the show.

Responsible for excellent stagings of the dramatic, darkly comedic The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Expelled, we know to take note when How Now Brown Cow Productions announces a new project. The adaptation of My Name Is Lucy Barton is the theatre company's latest, based on Elizabeth Strout's novel of the same name. Following a rapturous premiere at Hilton Arts Festival, Joburg looks forward to a limited season of the play at Theatre on the Square in Sandton.

My Name Is Lucy Barton is the story of a writer reckoning with the legacy of a scarred family life, trying at once to come to terms with the cost of her childhood and the rewards of her art. In the novel, Strout illuminates perhaps the most tender relationship of all – that between a mother and daughter.

The play begins with its protagonist Lucy Barton waking after an operation to the surprising sight of her estranged mother at the foot of her bed. Though the pair seem to reconnect, the same tension and longing that have touched every part of Lucy's life bubble below this interaction – bringing her troubled childhood in rural Illinois into sharp focus, against the backdrop of her current life as a writer in New York City. "My Name Is Lucy Barton is a story for anyone who has questioned how family defines oneself. It is a powerful narrative of hope and triumph about a woman who finds her truth and reclaims her story," the producers say. 

Of The Beauty Queen of Leenane fame, Julie-Anne McDowell stars in the production, while Charmaine Weir-Smith comes on board as director and Kieran McGregor handles design.

Described by the Sunday Telegraph as "glorious, tender, and true", My Name Is Lucy Barton shows at Theatre on the Square in Sandton from Wed, Oct 9 – Sun, Oct 27. Performances are Tue – Fri at 19:30, Sat at 16:00 and 19:30, and Sun at 15:00. Book your tickets here.