They Who Lay In The Fields Like Beasts

The Romany ('Gypsy') people are a disputed ethnic group descended from the warrior-caste that emerged from the Hindu Kush in the 11th century. The play attempts to reconcile the Roma's illustrious romantic perception with their historical persecution.

A young Rom, Chik Ursari, has recently settled his family, moving them from a Hungarian camping ground to a small Transylvanian town. He has designed and built a strange and wonderful building that will, in time, come to be known as the first 'Gypsy House'. Today these structures speckle the cities of Europe.

Between his three sisters -a misanthropic fortune-teller, a mischief-mongering widow and a runaway bride- Chik's hopes for his family's social progression (and his architectural legacy) appear dashed. But as relations with the non-Roma townsfolk boil over, an enigmatic 'fundamentalist' Rom arrives with a bewitching history - and an intent to demolish the 'Gypsy House' at any cost.

A play about the absurdity of family, the perils of imagination and the inconsistency of death.