The Bomb: A Partial History (Oberon Modern Plays) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849431523 ISBN 13: 9781849431521

Publisher: Oberon Books Ltd, 2012

Synopsis

THE BOMB: A Partial History is a season of plays from leading contemporary dramatists, charting the political history of the Nuclear Bomb and its proliferation from 1940 to the present day. FIRST BLAST (1940 to 1992) features plays by John Donnelly, Elena Gremina, Amit Gupta, Zinnie Harris & Ron Hutchinson. It is the first year of World War II, and in Whitehall two émigré Jewish scientists are waiting for a meeting to get the British establishment to take their nuclear research seriously. The following plays then trace the history of the Labour party wrestling with the decision to build the Atomic Bomb, the Cuban missile crisis from a Russian perspective, China's war with India and the subsequent development of India's bomb, the break-up of the Soviet Union and the unilateral disarmament of Ukraine. SECOND BLAST (1992 2012) features plays by Lee Blessing, Ryan Craig, David Greig, Zinnie Harris, Diana Son & Colin Teevan. A contemporary take on the non-proliferation debate looking at Israel and Iran's nuclear capability, the axis of evil speech and its affect on North Korea, the U.K.'s continuing reliance on Trident in the post Cold War era, through to the current negotiations with Iran and weapons inspections there.

About this title

Review

'An entertaining, provoking dossier, with admirable nuance and real purpose.' 4 stars --Time Out

'bold and political ... a probing account of the history of nuclear weapons - and their future.. a timely attempt to catalyse debate about a subject too often neglected.' 4 stars --Evening Standard

'The Bomb - A Partial History in Two Parts can only be reviewed as an event. And what an event. Only the Tricycle - the last bastion of powerful political theatre in the UK - could present a five-hour marathon on the development and deployment of the nuclear bomb. And only the Tricycle could make those five hours fly.... an exercise in creating simple, entertaining and crucial polemical theatre.' --The Stage

'a blazing genealogy of the bomb from Proliferation to the Present.... if you have the slightest interest in theatre as something that exceeds entertainment, you owe it to yourself to be present.' 4 stars --The Arts Desk

'The Bomb - A Partial History in Two Parts can only be reviewed as an event. And what an event. Only the Tricycle - the last bastion of powerful political theatre in the UK - could present a five-hour marathon on the development and deployment of the nuclear bomb. And only the Tricycle could make those five hours fly.... an exercise in creating simple, entertaining and crucial polemical theatre.' --The Stage

About the Author

The line up of authors for this project are second to none and include prize winning British and American playwrights. Many of the playwrights featured also wrote plays for the Great Game Afghanistan cycle of plays and have been called back to be inspired by the Nuclear Bomb.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oberon Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1849431523
• ISBN 13: 9781849431521
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272