Vincent In Brixton
August 31 - September 19, 2004
Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena, California

Ursula Loyer... Stephanie Zimbalist
Vincent Van Gogh... Graham Miller
Eugenie Loyer... Carolyn Palmer
Sam Plowman... Trevor Murphy
Anna Van Gogh... Tracie Lockwood

"Stephanie Zimbalist creates a seamless portrayal of a vital woman held down by her own willful grief. A veteran stage actress, her graceful performance brings out the best in her fellow actors."


A love story, comedy and biographical drama in one, Vincent in Brixton explores the lesser-known side of the legendary artist Vincent van Gogh. The play draws from his correspondence and creates a subtle and charming romance—reaching beyond Van Gogh's life and art—that brings great relevance to all those who experience it.

The play opens in a relatively well-to-do house in Brixton, between 1873 and 1876, taking us back to a period in Vincent van Gogh's life when he was just beginning to think about painting.  A period long before he had produced any of his famous works, moved to France, cut off his ear or become the archetypal tortured artist.

Set entirely in the kitchen of the Loyer's house, it's into this room that the 20-year-old Vincent arrives like a whirlwind.  At first you think Philip Cumbus, who plays him, is going slightly over-the-top but as you get used to van Gogh's character - you realise this is exactly how you want him to be played.  It explains the man's passion and drive. The passion and drive which later drove him away from his family in Holland and into poverty and the asylum.

Vincent immediately falls for the daughter of the house, Eugenie Loyer, which alarms her widowed mother Ursula.  But his charm and passion soon persuade mum to give him a room anyway. 

Within the house Vincent soon finds out that many other passions exist which, as they interweave with the story, leave us believing that Vincent ends his time in London with a new-found belief in his own ability and potential as a painter.