Howard Brenton has been described by critic Peter Roberts as "the most solid talent to emerge from the lunch hour theatre scene," a manifestation of London's fringe theater. Brenton is a leader among the so-called second generation of English...

Byline: QUENTIN LETTS CHRISTIANITY is based on a con, proclaims the new play at the state-funded National. Christ did not die on the Cross but survived crucifixion because it was a rainy day. The Romans wanted to get home and failed...

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The mortal danger of all the political theater I’ve seen this season is whether it preaches pointlessly to the choir—or takes an imaginative leap to exist in its own dynamic right. All propaganda plays date quickly—unless the play transcends the propaganda. Who today remembers Tim...

The mortal danger of all the political theater I’ve seen this season is whether it preaches pointlessly to the choir—or takes an imaginative leap to exist in its own dynamic right. All propaganda plays date quickly—unless the play transcends the propaganda. Who today remembers...

'The Theatre', claims Howard Brenton, 'is a dirty place.' And Brenton, as much as any dramatist of recent years, has been associated with an obsessive interest in public and private violence—seeming assaults on all versions of law and order…. Brenton has a particular view of the power which lies behind the drama, both past and present, which he most admires. It is obvious, for instance, that dramatists have often been more concerned with portraying individuals who b...

Brenton has survived the demise of the Fringe and has gained a controversial position unequalled among the writers of the late 1960's. But critical acclaim, commercial acceptance, and diversity of interests have in no way threatened the intensity of Brenton's political commitment. He remains one of Britain's most dedicated political writers and unapologetically states, "All my plays are written unreservedly in the cause of socialism." And though "agit/prop" i...

Brenton is as political as Trevor Griffiths, and perhaps even further to the Left. Like Griffiths, he expresses strong dissatisfaction with present-day Britain but, instead of being naturalistic and relying largely on rational argument, Brenton's plays are fantasies, full of bizarre and theatrical visual effects. The dialogue is often artificial and surrealistic, attempting to show people as they really are, beneath the veneer of conventional behaviour and polite talk. Brenton is obsessed with the vi...