Magnificence (play)

Magnificence is a 1973 play by English playwright Howard Brenton. It has two plotlines. Firstly, five far-left revolutionaries squat an unoccupied house in London. Secondly, a Conservative cabinet MP loses faith in himself. The two plotlines converge in the final scene, where Jed (one of the revolutionaries) accidentally kills both himself and the MP with plastic explosive.

The published text of the play takes as its epigraph lines from Brecht's Die Maßnahme:

Sink into the mire
Embrace the butcher
But change the world.

Stage History

Magnificence premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on 28 June 1973 with the following cast:

Will - Michael Kitchen
Jed - Kenneth Cranham
Mary - Carole Hayman
Veronica - Dinah Stabb
Cliff - Pete Postlethwaite
Constable - James Aubrey
Slaughter - Leonard Fenton
Alice - Geoffrey Chater
Babs - Robert Edison
Old Man/Lenin - Nikolaj Ryjtkov

It was directed by Max Stafford-Clark, designed by William Dudley and the lighting was by Andy Phillips.

a wonderful piece of theatre
— Irving Wardle, The Times^[1]

References

↑ Brenton: Plays One Methuen 1986 ISBN 978-0-413-40430-5

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/29/theatrenews

Works of Howard Brenton

Major plays	Christie in Love Magnificence The Churchill Play Weapons of Happiness Epsom Downs The Romans in Britain Bloody Poetry Greenland Paul In Extremis Never So Good Anne Boleyn 55 Days Drawing the Line Doctor Scroggy's War

With David Hare	Pravda

Television	Dead Head Spooks

See also	Portable Theatre Company

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