Abi Morgan Two Plays: Splendour/Tender. Abi Morgan

Inside a beautiful state residence on the edge of an Eastern European city, four women wait. They talk – movies, handbags, vodka, anything. For outside, as snow is falling, civil war looms ever nearer. A play about decadence, desire and dictatorship, Splendour brilliantly peels back the cruel veneer of our lives to reveal the beating heart within. Tender takes place in a city full of chance encounters. Al loves Hen, but now there’s a baby on the way everything looks different. Gloria loves Marvin, but one day he walked out and disappeared. And Hen’s mate Tash just loves a laugh and a drink. Particularly a drink. In this world of fast talk and hard sell, how much faith can we put in other people? Splendour was first produced by Paines Plough and won the Barclays TMA Award for Best New Play. Tender was first produced by Birmingham Rep, in a co-production with Hampstead Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth.