Actor Nichola McAuliffe is reprising her roles in Arnold Wesker's 'Annie Wobbler (Revisited)', a series of three soliloquies originally created for her in 1981. The show, which was staged at the Edinburgh fringe festival last month, sees McAuliffe perform the roles more than four decades later.
Wesker's three-character series, written before Alan Bennett's 'Talking Heads', features women who express their thoughts and vulnerabilities. The original series began with Annie Wobbler, an elderly, homeless woman, followed by younger women with names that are variations of Annie's.
In this rejigged production, the order of the monologues is reversed, starting with the youngest woman, Anna. Anna's monologue includes feminist commentary and self-loathing, while the next character, Annabella, is a novelist being interviewed. The final monologue features the destitute Annie, who is depicted as a haunting figure from London's past.