Saint George and the Dragon

(Paperback)

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Description

A village. A dragon. A damsel in distress. Into the story walks George: wandering knight, freedom fighter, enemy of tyrants the world over. One epic battle later and a nation is born. As the village grows into a town, and the town into a city, the myth of Saint George which once brought a people together, threatens to divide them.

Reviews

Rory Mullarkey's adaptation of these three Aeschylus plays . . . is undertaken with a spirit it would be hard to trump. . . . Mullarkey has adapted Aeschylus in a way that never fudges, conceals or distances. * Observer *
Rory Mullarkey's poetical, darkly funny but never murky adaptation proves stimulating and surprising . . . makes you laugh one moment and shudder the next. * The Times *
...the play has much to say about our shifting national identity... -- The Guardian
It's no surprise that there's a lot of theatre right now preoccupied with tyranny and freedom, as well as the power of nationalism to divide a country rather than hold it together. Rory Mullarkey's new play addresses all these issues, favouring an anarchic style that at times brings to mind Blackadder and Monty Python...There are ticklish jokes and moments of enjoyable mischief... -- The Evening Standard
...there is some very funny stuff about the English character... -- The Stage
...this new piece shows wit and enterprise... -- The Independent
The scope of the piece is daring... -- The Arts Desk

Author Bio

Rory Mullarkeys original plays include Pity, The Wolf from the Door (Royal Court Theatre), Saint George and the Dragon (Royal National Theatre), Each Slow Dusk (Pentabus Theatre/UK Tour), Cannibals, Single Sex (Royal Exchange, Manchester), The Grandfathers (National Theatre Connections, then Bristol Old Vic/National Theatre) and On the Threshing Floor (Heat & Light Company, Hampstead Theatre). His adaptations/translations include The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (Bristol Old Vic/Manchester Royal Exchange), The Oresteia by Aeschylus (Shakespeares Globe) and Remembrance Day by Aleksey Scherbak (Royal Court). He has written the libretti for The Skating Rink by David Sawer (Garsington Opera), Coraline by Mark-Anthony Turnage (Royal Opera House) and The Way Back Home by Joanna Lee (ENO/Young Vic). He has won the Abraham Woursell Prize (co-winner 2017), the James Tait Black Prize for Drama (2014), the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright (co-winner, 2014), the Harold Pinter Commission for the Royal Court (2014) and the Pearson Bursary for the Royal Exchange, Manchester (2011).