''Greenland'' is a 1988 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 Chur ...

. It is a neo- Brechtian

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

psychodrama with many actors, props and scene changes, on which the writer worked for seven years. It is the last of Brenton's three

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

plays, following '' Sore Throats'' and ''

Bloody Poetry ''Bloody Poetry'' is a 1984 play by Howard Brenton centring on the lives of Percy Shelley and his circle. The play had its roots in Brenton's involvement with the small touring company Foco Novo and was the third, and final, show he wrote for t ...

''. Howard Brenton's ''Greenland'' is not to be confused with the 2011 play of the same name co-authored by

Moira Buffini Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor. Early life Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...

Matt Charman Matt Charman (born June 5, 1979) is a British screenwriter, playwright, and producer from Horsham, West Sussex. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his 2015 film '' Bridge of Spies'', directed by Steven Spielber ...

Penelope Skinner Penelope Skinner is a British playwright. She came to prominence after her play ''Fucked'' was first produced in 2008 at the Old Red Lion Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival to huge critical acclaim and has had successive plays staged in London ...

and Jack Thorne. The play opened at the Royal Court Theatre in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 26 May 1988 and played there for a season. Its

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

premiere was at the Famous Door Theater in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in January 1994.

Plot summary

The first act is set on 11 June 1987, the day of the third consecutive Conservative general

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

victory. Four of the characters jump into the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in despair, and in the second act wake up 700 years in the future, in a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

where no one has to do anything they don't want to.

Leading characters

The action centres around four characters: Joan, a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

parliamentary candidate; Betty, a morally-outraged fundamentalist; Brian, a drunk; and Paul, Lord Ludlow, a wife-beating, debt-ridden

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

References

1988 plays British plays Psychodrama {{1980s-play-stub