Alan Bennett

DramaOnline

Sir Anthony Blunt is the director of the Courtauld Institute, London. While cleaning a Titian painting, Blunt has discovered a potential forgery in the Royal Collection. But the painting isn't the only fake - Blunt himself is a spy, the soon-to-be infamous 'fourth man' in the Cambridge Spy Ring. Playing on the concept of fakes, Bennett's drama explores deception, loyalty and artifice in British society, exposing the muddy waters of Cold War era politics and government. 'A Question of Attribution' premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London, in December 1988.

A Question of Attribution

John Millington Synge

I'll give you a riddle, Deirdre: Why isn't my father as ugly and old as Conchubor? You've no answer? . . . . It's because Naisi killed him.

Deirdre of the Sorrows

Harold Pinter

Two men are confined in a room with a kitchen lift which brings them unexpected messages. In this early one-act play, Harold Pinter reveals himself as already in full control of his unique ability to make dramatic poetry of the banalities of everyday speech and the precision with which it defines character. 'The Dumb Waiter' was first performed at Hampstead Theatre Club, London, in January 1960.

The Dumb Waiter

Steven Berkoff

What happens when an ordinary gathering is peeled back to expose the fears and insecurities beneath? Frank and Donna are having dinner with her mother-in-law and friends George and Hal, but under the surface there lie anxieties and desires waiting to be unleashed. In 'Kvetch' Steven Berkoff examines the tension and frustration seething under the surface of domesticity in an American marriage that has run out of steam. A play that explores the nature of neurosis, but also personal and cultural identity, 'Kvetch' was named London's Evening Standard comedy of the year in 1991, having premiered at the Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles, in March 1986.

Kvetch

John Arden

Margaretta D'Arcy

'The Business of Good Government' was written for and first performed in 1960 in the village of Brent Knoll, Somerset. Telling the traditional story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, it focuses less on the divine and miraculous, and more on the geopolitical forces at play in Herod's kingdom. Under threat of Roman invasion from the west and Persian invasion from the East, Herod is disconcerted to receive a party of Persian delegates, wise men, whom he fears are spies for his neighbour. Realising the threat that might come from a child born which might match and ancient prophecy, he issues an edict to slaughter all males aged under two-years-old. In spite of this heinous crime, the play presents a not altogether unsympathetic portrait of that infamous king, in whom echoes of calculated government policy in modern times can perhaps be seen.

The Business of Good Government

Tony Harrison

Tony Harrison based his palimpsest on the fragment of Sophocles' satyr-play 'Ichneutae' discovered in the debris of the city of Oxyrhynchus in 1897. He interweaves the scholars' 'tracking' of the Sophoclean play with its own tale of the satyrs' tracking of Apollo's missing cattle. The heart of the play is Harrison's inconclusive consideration of modern culture, its appropriation as a tool to divide society and its ultimate value in a society so divided. It was first produced at The Quarry, West Yorkshire, in 1988.

The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus (National Theatre)

In his adaptation of Racine, Harrison ingeniously transposes the action of the old Greek tragedy of Phaedra to the steamy landscape of an India seen through the narrow eye slits of Victorian society. The story seen through this arresting perspective with the ancient and vengeful Gods of India taking over from the Greek furies takes on a special vibrancy. 'Phaedra Britannica' was first performed by the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in September 1975.

Phaedra Britannica

Philip Osment

The residents of a small town populate the pages of Philip Osment's 'The Dearly Beloved', an exploration of rural life and spiritual longing and the first of his three plays set in Devon. In always dreaming of a better life, the townspeople fail to see the things that are in front of them. The return of prodigal son Alaric, now a successful TV producer, results in tragic consequences, shaking the characters out of their dreams and forcing them to face harsh realities. Commissioned by the Cambridge Theatre Company, 'The Dearly Beloved' won the Writers' Guild award for best regional play in 1993.

The Dearly Beloved

Edward Bond

When a refugee breaks into Joan's cellar, she must make a choice; does she hand him into the authorities, or help him make his escape. He makes a convincing argument; represented by an actor who speaks the lines, and a dummy who embodies them, he shows how a person can do only what they must do to survive and still be deemed illegal. The play highlights the conflict between our obligations to society's laws and our desire to help one another, and shows how these often irresolvable duties can lead to catastrophe for everyone involved. 'The Under Room' was first performed at the Roade School, Northampton, in 2005.

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