Bloody Poetry
Encyclopedia
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 them. The initial idea was that Brenton should write a piece based around Shelly, though Brenton was more interested in looking, not at the individual, but at the quartet of Percy, Mary Shelley
, Lord Byron and Byron's mistress Claire Clairmont
, tying it in with Utopian themes appropriate to the revolutionary spirit of the protagonists. In his introduction to the play Brenton disclaims any interest in moralising over the actions of his characters, as he had in a programme
to his earlier play Weapons of Happiness
.
The play takes as its epigraph a comment of Richard Holmes
's, “Shelley's life seems more a haunting than a history.”
. The director was Roland Rees and the cast was:
Percy Bysshe Shelley
– Valentine Pelka
Mary Shelley
– Fiona Shaw
Claire Clairmont
– Jane Gurnett
George Byron – James Aubrey
Dr William Polidori – William Gaminara
Harriet Westbrook – Sue Burton
The play played at the Manhattan Theatre Club
in 1987 in a production directed by Lynne Meadow
and was revived in 1988 at the Royal Court Theatre
and in 2007 at the Chapter Arts Centre
, Cardiff
.
Howard Brenton
-Early years:Brenton was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, son of Methodist minister Donald Henry Brenton and his wife Rose Lilian . He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and read English Literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. In 1964 he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal...
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 them. The initial idea was that Brenton should write a piece based around Shelly, though Brenton was more interested in looking, not at the individual, but at the quartet of Percy, Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
, Lord Byron and Byron's mistress Claire Clairmont
Claire Clairmont
Clara Mary Jane Clairmont , or Claire Clairmont as she was commonly known, was a stepsister of writer Mary Shelley and the mother of Lord Byron's daughter Allegra.-Early life:...
, tying it in with Utopian themes appropriate to the revolutionary spirit of the protagonists. In his introduction to the play Brenton disclaims any interest in moralising over the actions of his characters, as he had in a programme
Programme (booklet)
A programme or program is a booklet available for patrons attending a live event such as theatre performances, fêtes, sports events, etc. It is a printed leaflet outlining the parts of the event scheduled to take place, principal performers and background information. In the case of theatrical...
to his earlier play Weapons of Happiness
Weapons of Happiness
Weapons of Happiness is a 1976 political play by Howard Brenton about a strike in a London crisp factory. The play makes use of a dramatic conceit whereby the Czech communist cabinet minister Josef Frank is imagined alive in the 1970s , and his hallucinations of life in Stalinist Czechoslovakia...
.
The play takes as its epigraph a comment of Richard Holmes
Richard Holmes (biographer)
Richard Holmes, OBE, FRSL, FBA is a British author and academic best known for his biographical studies of major figures of British and French Romanticism.-Biography:...
's, “Shelley's life seems more a haunting than a history.”
Stage history
Bloody Poetry was first performed at the Haymarket Theatre Leicester on 1 October 1984 in a production that later played at the Hampstead TheatreHampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
. The director was Roland Rees and the cast was:
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
– Valentine Pelka
Valentine Pelka
Valentine Pelka is an English actor who has starred in film and on television.-Biography:Pelka was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire to an actress mother and a civil engineer father. His mother is Irish, and his father is Polish. His sister is Kazia Pelka an actress who starred in Brookside, amongst...
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
– Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
Claire Clairmont
Claire Clairmont
Clara Mary Jane Clairmont , or Claire Clairmont as she was commonly known, was a stepsister of writer Mary Shelley and the mother of Lord Byron's daughter Allegra.-Early life:...
– Jane Gurnett
Jane Gurnett
Jane Gurnett is a British actress best known for her leading roles in British TV series Casualty , Dangerfield and the second incarnation of Crossroads .-Career:...
George Byron – James Aubrey
James Aubrey (actor)
James Aubrey was an English stage and screen actor. He trained for the stage at the Drama Centre London. He made his professional acting debut in a 1962 production of Isle of Children. Aubrey made his screen acting debut in the 1963 adaptation of Lord of the Flies. Aubrey performed with the Royal...
Dr William Polidori – William Gaminara
William Gaminara
William Gaminara is an English actor and screenwriter, best known for playing pathologist Professor Leo Dalton on the television series Silent Witness . His other television credits include Will Newman in Attachments and Dr Andrew Bower in Casualty.Gaminara voiced Dr Richard Locke in the...
Harriet Westbrook – Sue Burton
The play played at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
in 1987 in a production directed by Lynne Meadow
Lynne Meadow
Lynne Meadow is an American theatre producer and director and a college professor.A cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr, Meadow attended the Yale School of Drama...
and was revived in 1988 at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
and in 2007 at the Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Wales. It hosts films, plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free art gallery, café and bars. There are also over 60 work spaces, used for an eclectic range of purposes including Chapter's own training courses.Income for...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
.