''The Churchill Play'' is a play by

Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter. While little-known in the United States, he is celebrated in his home country and often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Chu ...

. Written in 1974, the play offers a dystopian picture of an authoritarian

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

ten years in the future (i.e. 1984) and is set in an

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

named after

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. The play of the title is actually a

play within a play A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...

, one put on by inmates of the camp, in which soldiers stand guard over Churchill's

catafalque A catafalque is a raised bier, box, or similar platform, often movable, that is used to support the casket, coffin, or body of a dead person during a Christian funeral or memorial service. Following a Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, a catafalqu ...

, only for him to rise from the dead. Originally performed at the Nottingham Playhouse in 1974, it was directed by Richard Eyre and designed by

Hayden Griffin Hayden Griffin (23 January 1943 – 24 March 2013) was a stage designer, known for his work for the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre in London. Griffin was "regarded by many as the finest stage designer of his generation". Early ...

. Among the cast were Julian Curry, Bill Dean,

Dave Hill David John Hill (born 4 April 1946) is an English rock musician. He is the lead guitarist, a backing vocalist and the sole continuous member in the English band Slade. Hill is known for his flamboyant stage clothes and hairstyle. Early life B ...

Colin McCormack John Colin McCormack (2 December 1941 – 19 June 2004) was a Welsh actor who enjoyed success in classical stage performances and television shows including BBC TV's Dixon of Dock Green, a show he returned to twenty years later when he play ...

, Jonathan Pryce,

Eric Richard Eric Richard (born Eric Smith, 27 June 1940) is an English actor and presenter. His theatre work includes plays at the Royal Court Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, as well as seasons with the Royal Exchange, Manchester, Birmingham ...

, Roger Sloman, Tom Wilkinson, James Warrior and

Jane Wymark Jane Wymark (born 31 October 1952) is an English actress. The daughter of English actor Patrick Wymark (1926–1970) and the American writer and playwright Olwen Wymark, she is best known for playing Morwenna Chynoweth Whitworth (Morwenna Car ...

. A slightly rewritten version of the play was presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978, first at The Other Place, then at the Warehouse Theatre. For this production the director was Barry Kyle and the cast included John Bowe, David Bradley, Bill Dean, Donald Douglas, Geoffrey Freshwater, Philip McGough, Hilton McRae, John Nettles,

Ian Reddington Ian Reddington (born 25 September 1957) is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the early 1980s. He became widely known for television roles such as the Chief Clown in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Greatest Show in t ...

, and Juliet Stevenson. The critic Harold Hobson admired Brenton's writing, but found much of his perceived criticism of Churchill and take on the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

to be misplaced."Brenton, Howard 1942–"
Retrieved on 6 October 2009

Notes

1974 plays British plays Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill Dystopian literature {{1970s-play-stub