Deborah Bruce’s new play Dixon and Daughters is a family drama that opens on a note of sour mistrust. We’re in a working-class home in Yorkshire where a vituperative old crosspatch, Mary, has just returned from prison. Rather than accepting her daughters’ friendly welcome she treats them all with open hostility.
Had Ibsen been in attendance, he would have blushed with envy
Her first malevolent act is to try to evict Julie, even though her boyfriend has subjected her to horrific and repeated violence.
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