''Slag'' is a 1970 play by British writer David Hare. Originally presented at the

Hampstead Theatre Club Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Club ...

, it transferred in a revived production to the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, and its notice there won David Hare the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' award for most promising new playwright. The original cast at the Royal Court were

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was a British and American actress. During a career that spanned five decades, she won two Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, two Em ...

Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey (11 August 19373 July 2011) was an English actress. She won a British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Best Actress Award for the role of Edith Hope in the Hotel du Lac (film), 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel ''Hotel ...

and

Barbara Ferris Barbara Gillian Ferris (3 October 1936 – 23 May 2025) was an English actress and fashion model. She appeared in a number of films and productions for television, and is possibly best remembered as Dinah, the young woman who eloped with Dave ...

. ''Slag'' is a biting satire in which the only characters are the three teachers of a tiny isolated girls' school. The play begins with a mutual vow reminiscent of the vow that begins the play ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', ) is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city ...

'', in which Greek women vow to deny men sex as a protest against the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

. The three women teachers mutually pledge to abstain from

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

in protest against the dominance and abusive treatment of women by men, epitomized in the slur against women as " slags". Conflicts among the teachers' different visions of

radical feminism Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...

, different motivations, and different interpretations of and commitment to the vow become the grist for duplicitous dominant and abusive acts among them and distracts them from their teaching. Dominance and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

are ridiculed alike, while the number of pupils dwindles to zero in the resulting dysfunctional environment, leaving the three teachers to go their separate ways. ''Slag'' was a breakthrough play for David Hare. Reputedly written by him in three days, working out of the back of a van, it launched his prolific and successful career as a playwright.

References

1970 plays Plays by David Hare {{1970s-play-stub