London, NW3 3EU

Bake Off fans - Lottie Bedlow used to work as our Line Producer from 2014 - 2017 and we can confirm her cakes are I… https://t.co/LbkJDxnR0a, We stand together in solidarity with the people of Belarus in their fight for freedom and democracy and join the ca… https://t.co/ujkaZCDFmQ, 6 plays, 6 weeks of epic drama. Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century. Subscribe to our emails to hear what we're doing during the theatre closure - including upcoming projects and all the latest news. Part of Brenton's argument is that Mountbatten rushed the timetable for independence in order to terminate Edwina's affair with Nehru. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian, t is not often a critic wishes a play were longer. Brenton crams an amazing amount in but still leaves me wishing he had explored alternative scenarios to the hectic timetable for Indian independence. Jinnah served as leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan’s independence on 14 August 1947, and as Pakistan’s first Governor-General from independence until his death. Brenton's play may not be the last word on partition but, as when Jinnah claims that the British always favour Hindus whereas they see Islam as "iron-grey and frightening", it has considerable topical resonance. My wife and I did the tour of the Rajastan ‘golden triangle’ then we went south and journeyed around Kerala. Drawing The Line, Hampstead Theatre – Review (Streamed Broadcast) Little did the Victorians suspect that by 1945, not only would a Socialist UK government be in power, but that the British Empire would be decolonised, leaving the respective countries of … BOX OFFICE: 020 7722 9301, © 2020 Hampstead Theatre| Registered Charity no: 218506. It’s always been the playwright’s job to tackle moments of great upheaval, hasn’t it? And if so, did your trip inspire and inform you when writing Drawing the Line? Hampstead Theatre has been in NW3 for over 50 years, occupying one of London’s state-of-the-art theatres, and attracting audiences from all over the globe. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian Independence Movement under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi and ruled India from its establishment as an independent nation in 1947 until his death in office in 1964. Here’s a snapshot of where our 2017 bookers came from in the UK, Hampstead Theatre, I had a conversation in a shop in Cochin. Brenton knows how to make history manifest. Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960) was an English heiress, socialite, relief-worker, wife of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and last Vicereine of India. Hampstead Theatre and The Guardian will re-release the live stream recordings of Mike Bartlett’s Wild, Beth Steel’s Wonderland and Howard Brenton’s Drawing the Line for free.. And if so, did your trip inspire and inform you when writing Drawing the Line?In what way? Hampstead Theatre has been in NW3 for over 50 years, occupying one of London’s state-of-the-art theatres, and attracting audiences from all over the globe. Afterwards Radcliffe refused to accept his fee and burnt all the papers about the drawing of the border in his garden and, throughout a long and eminent career, never spoke a word about his experience in India. And it’s going to look stunning. Summoned by the Prime Minister Judge Cyril Radcliffe is given an unlikely mission. Some estimate a million people died as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and people of other faiths separated and refugees fled both ways over Radcliffe’s border. The shop keeper’s family were Hindu, his family had fled from Kashmir in 1947 at the time of partition. Whatever the truth of that, it downplays the crucial role of Attlee in determining the pace of British withdrawal. While Nehru and Jinnah are driven by high ideals as well as practical politics, Radcliffe wrestles with whether to locate Calcutta in India or the newly created Pakistan, and Mountbatten cynically talks of a hundred thousand deaths as "an acceptable level of violence". He is to travel to India, a country he has never visited, and, in the space of only six weeks, he is to draw the border which will divide the Indian sub-continent into two new Sovereign Dominions. We talk to Howard Brenton, writer of Hampstead’s hit plays 55 Days and #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, about Sophocles, the intimacy of theatre and the inspiration behind his new play Drawing the Line.. Have you ever been to India before? Drawing the Line, Hampstead Theatre Howard Brenton’s fascinating new play about the 1947 Partition of India is brilliantly staged. Brenton's focus is on Cyril Radcliffe, the British judge deputed by Clement Attlee to work out the division of the Indian subcontinent on Hindu and Muslim lines in the space of five weeks in 1947. Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, Trailers, interviews, and promo videos of Hampstead Theatre's past, current and forthcoming productions Howard is a master of epic story telling and getting passionate, detailed performances from his actors.