Danton's Death
by Georg Büchner
in a new version by Howard Brenton
5 STARS Sunday Telegraph
4 STARS 'Thrilling production... Toby Stephens is in splendid form.' Daily Telegraph
4 STARS 'A glorious and bloody revolution. A credit to Britain's National Theatre.' Sunday Times
1794: the French Revolution reaches its climax. After a series of bloody purges the life-loving, volatile Danton is tormented by his part in the killing. His political rival, the driven, ascetic Robespierre, decides Danton’s fate. A titanic struggle begins. Once friends who wanted to change the world, now one stands for compromise the other for ideological purity as the guillotine awaits.
Why should an event that transforms the whole of humanity not advance through blood?
A revolutionary himself, George Büchner was 21 when he wrote the play in 1835, while hiding from the police. With its hair-raising on-rush of scenes and vivid dramatisation of complex, visionary characters, Danton’s Death has a claim to be the greatest political tragedy ever written. Howard Brenton captures Büchner’s exhilarating energy as Danton struggles to avoid his inexorable fall.
This is your rhetoric translated. These wretches, these executioners, the guillotine are your speeches come to life. You have built your doctrines out of human heads.
Assisted Performances
Captioned performance: Saturday 14 August at 2pm
Audio-Described performance: Saturday 21 August at 2pm
(Touch Tour at 12.30pm)
Danton's Death finished on: 14 October 2010
