Alison's food for thought

The idea of cooking the husband is a sort of metaphor. It's a play about a husband who leaves his wife Hilary (played by me) for a younger women. It's not set in a specific time, but the feeling is that it's sort of the late Fifties.

Hilary is a very good person. She's a kind, friendly woman who loves her husband, keeps a sparkling home and is a wonderful cook. When she is suddenly dropped for this younger woman (Daisy Donoban), she decides to take her revenge. It's not a horrible, gory play - you'll not see blood. It's a black comedy, and very funny - but it's also a play with serious undertones of pain.

As a cast, we very much rely on each other - there are no props. We are stage together all the time for the whole show. It's an exhausting piece from that point of view. In a series of flashbacks you get this story and each character in turn tells the story of how they're feeling and what's happening.

The same play was performed at the Royal Court in the Nineties - but I hadn't seen it, thank god! It's always more difficult if you've seen something and have an idea of it... much easier to do things fresh. And I love being back on stage.