Pitcairn

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In the southern Pacific Ocean on the remote island of Pitcairn, the infamous mutineers of The Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian (or should it be Titreano) begin to establish a new society alongside their Tahitian followers. Tensions quickly swell as the British settlers refuse to relinquish the vices of their past. Social, racial and sexual schisms render the once paradisiac island into a hotbed of discord and bloody violence. Pitcairn vividly explores the conflict between personal freedoms and public responsibilities. Pitcairn is Richard Beans brutal telling of the colonisation of the remote island of Pitcairn by Fletcher Christian and the Bounty mutineers. The play charts with salty humour and growing horror the spiralling descent of the colony from a new Eden of freedom and equality to a brutal dystopia.

Reviews

[Bean] is a writer I greatly admire: daring, often funny, with an enthusiasm for ruffling feathers and wading into contentious issues where others fear to tread. * Three stars - Charles Spencer, Telegraph *
Ingenious look at a failed attempt to create an island utopia. * Three stars - Michael Billington, Guardian *
[A] boldly contentious writer. * Three stars - London Evening Standard *

Author Bio

Richard Bean is one of Britains most exciting and prolific playwrights. Between 1989 and 1994 he worked as a stand-up comedian and went on to be one of the writers and performers of the sketch show Control Group Six (BBC Radio), which was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. His first full length play, Of Rats and Men was staged at the Canal Cafe and went on to Edinburgh. He adapted it for radio for the BBC and it was nominated for a Sony Award. His breakthrough play Toast found critical acclaim at the Royal Court Theatre in 1999. He has also translated and adapted Moliere's The Misanthrope. His recent play One Man, Two Guvnors premiered at The National Theatre in May 2011, to a string of five star reviews, before transferring to the West End and Broadway. One Man, Two Guvnors also won the Critics Circle and Richard became the first writer to win the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for two plays, The Heretic and One Man, Two Guvnors in 2011.