Based on Annie Ernaux’s 2008 historical memoir Les Années, The Years examines the life of one woman from 1941 through to 2006. Her personal milestones are portrayed alongside significant world events; reminding audiences that all of us living at the same time share experiences and that those experiences in turn shape us.
The play has perhaps become most famous for its “fainting scene” with audiences members, almost nightly, fainting when the results of a back street abortion are portrayed on stage. The scene is shocking and visceral but, also, it is not fantasy. This exact scenario happened to many women. As abortion rights are challenged worldwide, it may happen again to many more as society has only ever managed to criminalise legal abortion, not abortion per se. The scene is responsibly handled and fits importantly in the wider story arc of Annie’s life. (It also, perhaps, makes the case that the content warnings some are so sniffy about do indeed have their place).
As with the abortion scene, tying Annie’s life choices to the happenings in wider society makes sense. As the pill becomes available, a woman may make sexual choices not available to her before. As divorce becomes more accepted, it is more likely a woman may leave her husband if she chooses. Seeing these changes through Annie’s eyes helps the audience reflect on the profound changes in European society from the middle of World War II to the beginning of the 21st century.
The Years has five Annies of increasing age. Although each tells their story in turn, in chronological order, all five actresses are present throughout playing ensemble characters. Director Eline Arbo centres much of the play around the dining table, that hub of family life. In her hands, the family relationships are tender and forgiving.
Romola Garai received the Olivier award for her role of one as the Annies though I join many in feeling that a composite award for all five actresses may also have been appropriate (Deborah Findlay, Gina McKee, Romola Garai, Anjli Mohindra, and Harmony Rose-Bremner). The night I saw, Tuppence Middleton had ably stepped into Garai’s role, having taken over in March.
This is thoughtful theatre that allows you to reflect on the passage of time and the impacts on women’s lives but also on your own life. How many choices we’ve made would be different if we’d been in a different era or a different place? The Years cleverly poses this question and sends you home with much to ponder.
Red Bus Londinium Life 
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