Magnificence [antikvár]

This play was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in June 1973. Described by the author as a 'kind of tragedy', it shows the violent collision of two worlds - that of a group of radical protesters and a Cabinet Minister. What began as a squatting demonstration leads to an assassination plot. Magnificence is far from being a comfortable play but it is the work of a playwright who seems to come closer than most to a true understanding of the social malady of violence in Britain now. . . it raises the kind of questions rarely debated on the modern English stage. At what point, if ever, does violence become a legitimate political tactic? To what extent is radical protest, without the support of the people, a form of self-indulgence? How, if at all, does one puncture the discreet charm of the English bourgeoisie?' Michael Billington in The Guardian \ .. it is scene for scene a wonderful piece of theatre; annexing whole new chunks of modern life and presenting them in a style at once truthful and magnified.' Irving Wardle in The Times The photo on the front cover is by John Haynes and shows Kenneth Cranham as Jed and Leonard Fenton as Slaughter, in the 1973 Royal Court production. The photograph on the back cover is reproduced by courtesy of Snoo Wilson.