“Thirteenth Night: A Dream Play”

Submitted by LT_Sargent on Thu, 09/05/2024 - 18:10
Title“Thirteenth Night: A Dream Play”
Year for Search1981
AuthorsBrenton, Howard [John](b. 1942)
Secondary TitleThirteenth Night by Howard Brenton & A Short Sharp Shock by Howard Brenton and Tony Howard
Pagination5-41
Date Published1981
PublisherEyre Methuen
Place PublishedLondon
ISBN Number0-413-48500-5
KeywordsEnglish author, Male author
Annotation

The play begins with a group of Labour politicians leaving a meeting and being attacked by fascists, and when one is knocked out, he dreams of the future success of the Labour Party, what goes wrong, and, briefly, the dystopia that is created. It has been described Macbeth with the Labour Party, and in the Preface to Plays: Two, Brenton says “It is, I suppose, ‘a Shakespearean derivative’, since, cheekily I know, for I was having fun with its form, it plays ducks and drakes with the plot of Macbeth. Its title is a code for the plays theme--this is the play for when the celebrations have to stop” (xi).
Additional Publishers

Rpt. in his Plays: Two The Romans in Britain Thirteenth Night The Genius Bloody Poetry Greenland (London: Methuen Drama, 1989), 97-159
Info Notes

First performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Warehouse, London July 2, 1981.

Holding Institutions

PSt
Author Note

(b. 1942)
Full Text

1981 Brenton, Howard [John] (b. 1942). “Thirteenth Night: A Dream Play.” In Thirteenth Night by Howard Brenton & A Short Sharp Shock by Howard Brenton and Tony Howard (London: Eyre Methuen, 1981), 5-41. Rpt. in his Plays: Two The Romans in Britain Thirteenth Night The Genius Bloody Poetry Greenland (London: Methuen Drama, 1989), 97-159. First performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Warehouse, London July 2, 1981. PSt

The play begins with a group of Labour politicians leaving a meeting and being attacked by fascists, and when one is knocked out, he dreams of the future success of the Labour Party, what goes wrong, and, briefly, the dystopia that is created. It has been described Macbeth with the Labour Party, and in the Preface to Plays: Two, Brenton says “It is, I suppose, ‘a Shakespearean derivative’, since, cheekily I know, for I was having fun with its form, it plays ducks and drakes with the plot of Macbeth. Its title is a code for the plays theme--this is the play for when the celebrations have to stop” (xi).