Howard Brenton has written a dozen plays during the past ten years, almost all of them controversial. To no one's great surprise, The Romans in Britain is not an exception…. Brenton's intention seems to be to shock his audience into an awareness of how obscene and absurd the world really is, particularly that part which he inhabits, Great Britain, where he detects violence lurking beneath the surface of apparently respectable people who hold positions of power and leadership. Brenton denies that the play is overtly political, but it is hard to see how it could be viewed otherwise, equating as it does the Roman legions with the British military in Northern Ireland. Described by its author as a "peace play" The Romans in Britain, when it isn't straining to be left-wing hip, is largely about survival, of both individuals and groups, and about the dreams and myths we...