Festen (play)

Festen is a British stage adaptation of the Danish film of the same name (The Celebration being the film's release title in North America). The adaptation is by English playwright David Eldridge. It was first staged in 2004 by producer Marla Rubin at the Almeida Theatre in London, and has since been staged in many countries around the world.

Synopsis

As in the original movie, Festen satirises the hypocrisy of a large and wealthy family by observing the events that unfold at the ancestral home during a reunion held to celebrate the oldest family member's 60th birthday.

As the time arises for birthday speeches to be made to the party's subject, one of his sons stands and asks the assembled guests to choose which of two prepared speeches he should read. The guests select one not knowing its contents, and the son declares it the "truth speech". As he begins to talk, it becomes dramatically clear that he is not praising his father but accusing him of having abused him and his sister over a period of years during their childhood. The rest of the story traces the family's turbulent battle with the truth to discover whether the son's cold rage is justified or the product of a deranged imagination.

Agnes (novel)

Agnes is a 1998 German novel by Peter Stamm and was considered to be his literary debut. The book was first published in German on August 1, 1998 through Arche Verlag and follows a romance between a nameless older man and Agnes, a young woman that is almost half his age. Of the book, Stamm commented that he saw the book's landscape and climate as an important way of setting the tone for the novel and its characters.

The book has been adapted into a radio play and in 2012, Agnes was adapted into a stage play by Christian Papke.

Synopsis

Agnes (1853)

The Agnes was a wooden carvel cutter built in 1853 in Sydney Harbour. It was lost at Newcastle Bight, New South Wales, on 13 July 1860, when it was blown ashore in a gale whilst travelling between Newcastle and Sydney. The ship master was Henry Hardy.

Coordinates: 32°48′S 152°00′E / 32.8°S 152°E / -32.8; 152

Agnes of Essex, Countess of Oxford

Agnes of Essex, Countess of Oxford (c. 1151 – c. 1212) was the daughter of a royal constable Henry of Essex and his second wife, Alice de Montfort. She was betrothed at age three to Geoffrey de Vere, brother of the first Earl of Oxford, and turned over to be raised by the Veres soon thereafter. Agnes later rejected the match with Geoffrey and by 1163 was married to his eldest brother Aubrey de Vere III, 1st Earl of Oxford, as his third wife.

In 1163, Agnes's father was accused of treason and lost a judicial duel. After her father's disgrace and the resulting forfeiture of lands and offices, the earl sought to have his marriage annulled. Agnes fought his action. On 9 May 1166, she appealed her case from the court of the bishop of London to the pope (the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, being in exile at the time). While the case was pending in Rome, the earl reportedly kept Agnes confined in one of his three castles, for which the bishop of London Gilbert Foliot reprimanded Aubrey.Pope Alexander III ruled in her favor, thus establishing the canon law right and requirement of consent by females in betrothal and the sacrament of marriage.