The Stage

Controversial Georgian play makes professional debut 200 years late

Published Thursday 11 June 2009 at 16:44 by Alistair Smith

The Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds is to stage the professional premiere of a play written more than two centuries ago, which was suppressed at the time due to its “politically inflammable content”.

The Massacre was written by playwright and radical Elizabeth Inchbald in response to the September Massacres in Paris in 1792, but was never staged due to the sensitive nature of the material.

Colin Blumenau, the Theatre Royal’s artistic director, explained: “Inchbald wrote the piece as part of a political discussion about acts of aggressive retribution and violations of human rights based on the atrocities being perpetrated across the Channel in France. Its messages are as poignant today as they have always been, giving the production universal historical reference points and cultural identity is a way of generalising her specific target. This production will have a striking visual identity which will perfectly compliment the powerful messages it contains.”

The production will feature a multi-cultural cast, with actors hailing from diverse cultural backgrounds including Northern Ireland, Somalia, India and Pakistan and will be staged without period costume.

The Massacre runs at the Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds from June 23 to 27