Greenland is a 1988 play by Howard Brenton . It is a neo-Brechtian epic psychodrama [ 1] with many actors, props and scene changes,[ 2] on which the writer worked for seven years.[ 3] It is the last of Brenton's three Utopian plays, following Sore Throats and Bloody Poetry .[ 4]
Howard Brenton's Greenland is not to be confused with the 2011 play of the same name co-authored by Moira Buffini , Matt Charman , Penelope Skinner and Jack Thorne .
The play opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 26 May 1988[ 5] and played there for a season.[ 6] Its United States premiere was at the Famous Door Theater in Chicago in January 1994.[ 7]
Plot summary
The first act is set on 11 June 1987, the day of the third consecutive Conservative general election victory.[ 8] Four of the characters jump into the River Thames in despair, and in the second act wake up 700 years in the future, in a utopia where no one has to do anything they don't want to.[ 9]
Leading characters
The action centres around four characters: Joan, a Labour parliamentary candidate; Betty, a morally-outraged fundamentalist ; Brian, a drunk; and Paul, Lord Ludlow, a wife-beating, debt-ridden capitalist .[ 10]
References
^ Sternlicht, Sanford V. (2004). A reader's guide to modern British drama . Syracuse University Press . p. 212. ISBN 978-0-8156-3076-0 .
^ Brater, Enoch (1995). The theatrical gamut: notes for a post-Beckettian stage . University of Michigan Press . p. 220. ISBN 978-0-472-10583-0 .
^ Reinelt, Janelle G. (1996). After Brecht: British Epic Theater . University of Michigan Press . p. 18. ISBN 978-0-472-08408-1 .
^ O'Connor, John (December 2005). "From Sore Throats to Greenland: Howard Brenton's Utopian Plays". Contemporary Justice Review . 8 (4). Routledge : 409– 430. doi :10.1080/10282580500334270 . ISSN 1028-2580 . S2CID 144579934 .
^ Boon, Richard (1991). Brenton, the playwright . Methuen Drama . p. xiii. ISBN 978-0-413-18970-7 .
^ Homden, Carol (1995). The plays of David Hare . Cambridge University Press . p. 100 . ISBN 978-0-521-42718-0 .
^ Weiss, Hedy (14 January 1994). "Wild Flight to 'Greenland': Brenton Play Gets U.S. Premiere Here". Chicago Sun-Times . p. 35.
^ Stevenson, Randall; Jonathan Bate (2006). The Oxford English Literary History . Oxford University Press . p. 325. ISBN 978-0-19-928835-9 .
^ Bram, Leon L.; Norma H. Dickey (1989). Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia 1989 Yearbook . Funk & Wagnalls . p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8374-9562-0 .
^ Christiansen, Richard (19 January 1994). "Famous Door does what it can with 'Greenland' ". Chicago Tribune . p. 18.
Major plays With David Hare Television See also