Weapons of Happiness
by Howard Brenton
by Howard Brenton
Weapons of Happiness is an epic drama set in 1976 London, focusing on workers' struggles against economic crisis and industrial unrest while grappling with the traumatic past of a Czech immigrant.
About The Play
About The Play
The first ever revival of the audacious epic drama by one of the UK’s most celebrated modern playwrights with an outstanding cast including Hilton McRae, Olivier Award winner Benjamin Davies and Tony Award nominee Hayward Morse.
As the New Year dawns on 1976, the Labour Party is in power but the country is running out of control. Industrial unrest grows, an economic crisis looms. Change is coming: but will it be to the left or to the right?
With tensions running high, workers at a London factory storm the building in a bid to save their jobs and change their lives. Their struggle is complicated by the presence of a Czech worker, Josef Frank, still deeply traumatised by his experiences of Stalinism.
Set against the harsh memories of Frank’s brutal torture under the Communist purges, a generation of young workers fight back against a government that has neglected them. Could Britain have a revolution?
Weapons of Happiness was the first play to be performed at the Lyttleton Theatre space at the National Theatre in 1976 and won the Evening Standard Best Play award. Exciting young director Nathan Curry – having served his apprenticeship under Howard Davies – directs.