Lyonesse has all the makings of a powerful #MeToo play. In fact, it has the makings of more than one #MeToo play. There are multitudes packed into Penelope Skinner’s script about the horrors women face, from the juggle of work and home life in the face of a covertly bullying husband to coercive control and the appropriation of women’s stories.
It begins with Elaine (Kristin Scott Thomas), a once famous, now reclusive, actor who took flight from a dangerously controlling partner 30 years ago, never to be seen on stage or screen again. Kate (Lily James) is an ambitious film executive and high achieving north London mother sent to draw Elaine’s life story out of her in order to re-fashion it for a film.
