Wearied by his romanticized persona and worldwide fame, disgusted with his country and himself, Lawrence is craving normality. But when you're a brilliant archaeologist, scholar, linguist, writer and diplomatas well as a legendary desert warriorhow can you ever be normal? An exploration of the afterlife of a legend, when being a hero has become a burden.
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Wearied by his romanticized persona and worldwide fame, disgusted with his country and himself, Lawrence is craving normality. But when you're a br...
Traditionally seen as either the pawn of an ambitious family maneuvered into the King's bed or as a predator manipulating her way to power, Anne--and her ghost--are seen in a very different light in Howard Brenton's epic play.
Traditionally seen as either the pawn of an ambitious family maneuvered into the King's bed or as a predator manipulating her way to power, Anne--a...
-Excellent... like a mix of Kafka and Beckett.- - The Guardian A timely play based on the true story of an imprisoned Nobel Laureate. On 3 April 2011, as he was boarding a flight to Taipei, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Airport. Advised merely that his travel -could damage state security-, he was escorted to a van by officials, after which he disappeared for eighty-one days. On his release, the government claimed that his imprisonment related to tax evasion. Howard Brenton's play is based on Ai Weiwei's account in Barnaby Martin's book Hanging...
-Excellent... like a mix of Kafka and Beckett.- - The Guardian A timely play based on the true story of an imprisoned Nobel Laureate. O...
A vivid telling of the chaotic story of the partition that shaped the modern world. London, 1947. Summoned by the Prime Minister from the court where he is presiding judge, Cyril Radcliffe is given an unlikely mission. He is to travel to India, a country he has never visited, and, with limited survey information, no expert support and no knowledge of cartography, he is to draw the border which will divide the Indian sub-continent into two new Sovereign Dominions. To make matters even more challenging, he has only six weeks to complete the task. Wholly unsuited to his role, Radcliffe is...
A vivid telling of the chaotic story of the partition that shaped the modern world. London, 1947. Summoned by the Prime Minister from the court wh...
An epic, hilarious and moving play that takes a sideways look at the First World War. 1915. Jack Twigg, twenty-one years old, enlists in the London Regiment and goes on a journey he never imagined - nor did the rest of the world. On his way, he meets the pioneering medic Harold Gillies, who saves his life and his sanity. And who is the mysterious Doctor Scroggy who appears at night in Gillies' hospital dispensing champagne to the patients? Doctor Scroggy's War premiered at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in September 2014. Howard Brenton is a prolific playwright whose...
An epic, hilarious and moving play that takes a sideways look at the First World War. 1915. Jack Twigg, twenty-one years old, enlists in the Londo...
The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart, and democracy itself cannot function.
Pravda (which means "truth") is a satire written at the height of Thatcherism when huge political changes were afoot. The play essentially studies, through black humour and close scrutiny, the tabloid ethic and the media industry as a get-rich-quick-fix.
In the programme for the original 1985 production of Pravda, Brenton wrote: "Pravda means 'the truth'. English newspapers aren't propaganda sheets. The question is, why do...
The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart, and democracy itself cannot function.
Four new short plays by internationally renowned playwrights inspired by the eight-hundredth anniversary of the Magna Carta. Plays include Ransomed by Howard Brenton, Kingmakers by Anders Lustgarten, We Sell Right by Timberlake Wertenbaker, and Pink Gin by Sally Woodcock.
Four new short plays by internationally renowned playwrights inspired by the eight-hundredth anniversary of the Magna Carta. Plays include Ranso...
About to be fired from her cleaning job for stealing a volume of Euripides, Jude turns her employer's outrage to shock by translating the ancient Greek on the spot. The employer, a Classics teacher, knows great talent when she sees it and the encounter kick-starts Jude's lifelong ambition to study at Oxford University. Entirely self-taught and possessing an astonishing gift for languages, Jude will stop at nothing to achieve her dream - but she remains oblivious to the hidden barriers that her background has placed in her path... Howard Brenton's latest play, loosely inspired by Thomas...
About to be fired from her cleaning job for stealing a volume of Euripides, Jude turns her employer's outrage to shock by translating the ancient Gree...
'They say Pericles caught democracy from you in bed.' Today, Socrates is revered as the founding father of Western philosophy. But in 399 BC Athens, he was a pain in the neck. The plague is over, democracy is (just about) restored, and everyone would like to get back to normal. How hard is it for one ageing firebrand to stop asking questions? It's time to shut him up... Based on eyewitness accounts, Howard Brenton's Cancelling Socrates is a provocative and witty play about an uncompromising voice in dangerous times. It was premiered at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in...
'They say Pericles caught democracy from you in bed.' Today, Socrates is revered as the founding father of Western philosophy. But in 399 BC At...