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Albion, Almeida Theatre London
State of the nation takes root in an English country garden
EXCELLENT: Victoria Hamilton as Audrey in Albion

THIS fine play from Mike Bartlett is wonderful theatre.  

As the audience settles around the protruding set of a country garden, a first world war soldier wanders around the lawn and, picking up the soil of his country, inhales it like dope — a metaphor for what’s to come.  

Enter 21st-century Audrey (Victoria Hamilton) who has left her business life in London to return and live in the place which has nostalgic connections with her childhood — its seductive comforts and reluctance for change — despite her constantly professing its importance.  

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