‘Memory pairs the dead with the living, real with imaginary beings, dreams with history.’
She strikes a pose and the camera shutter clicks… A child playing in the debris of the Second World War. Click. A student discovering parties and men’s bodies. Click. An activist fighting for the right to choose. Click. A wife picking out a velvet sofa. Click. A mother taking her eldest to judo. Click. A lover, seducing a younger man. Click. A grandmother presenting her granddaughter to the camera. Click.
The Years/Les années is Annie Ernaux’s critically acclaimed ‘masterpiece’ (Guardian), charting a woman’s personal and political life against the backdrop of a rapidly changing post-war Europe.
Eline Arbo’s inventive stage adaptation was premiered as De jaren by Het Nationale Theater in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2022. It was first performed, in an English-language version by Stephanie Bain – after the translations by Alison L. Strayer and Tanya Leslie – at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2024, with a cast of five women collectively bringing to life the story of one woman, and a whole continent.
‘Nothing short of theatrical magic’ De Nederlandse Toneeljury
‘A remarkable stage adaptation that leads to a special catharsis through nostalgia, sadness and lots of humour’
— Volkskrant
‘Stunning… a swoon-worthy smash… joyous… a real eye-opener’
— The Times
‘A unique, profoundly moving experience… manages the extraordinary feat of intricately telling the story of a whole life in less than two hours… finds laughter in tragedy and devastating detail in mundanity. It moved me in ways theatre often tries to but rarely achieves… utterly remarkable’
— Independent
‘Unforgettable… strangely magnificent… full of roaring life’
— WhatsOnStage
‘Fascinating, funny and moving’
— Daily Mail
