Possession: A Peep-Show in Paradise

In a richly appointed Victorian drawing‑room, the curtain rises on Julia Robinson, a dignified matriarch whose genteel poise masks a quiet command over her household. The scene is set by Hannah, the long‑serving maid, whose humble movements illuminate the room’s over‑upholstered furnishings, brass clocks and delicate china, each piece a relic of past grandeur. Through their brief exchange the play instantly sketches a world where social rank and the trappings of “possession” are as meticulously arranged as the décor itself.

The drama then turns to the Robinson sisters—Laura, Martha and Susan—and the strained expectations that hover over their lives. Beneath the polished surface, questions of faith, politics and personal agency begin to surface, hinted at by references to the Angel of the Great Exhibition and the lingering weight of inherited authority. As the evening deepens, listeners are invited to watch the delicate balance between reverence and restraint, and to wonder what will happen when the carefully held possessions start to unravel.