Iphigenia in Splott

Gary Owen’s magnificent, eviscerating play still speaks to us about the sorry state of our nation [and is] a growlingly poetic meditation and call to arms in one… everyone should see this shattering modern classic. No one will remain unmoved. – Arifa Akbar * Guardian *

Owen’s exquisite writing makes the scenes heartbreakingly vivid … But the plot always gallops on, unfolding with a dramatic (and at times, manic) pace… It’s truly mesmerising. A mobilising and urgent attack on austerity politics and the cruel realities of their effects on the working class and most vulnerable … this play is a vital watch: scenes will flood into your head days after, perhaps when you’re watching the news. You’ll feel unnerved. You’ll feel angry. That’s what’s so great about it.

Gary Owen is the winner of the George Devine, Meyer Whitworth and Pearson Best Play Awards. His other plays include Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco, The Shadow of a Boy, The Drowned World, Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian and Love Steals Us From Loneliness. With Helen Raynor he was writer and creator of the BBC Wales series Baker Boys. His most recent theatre work includes Perfect Match for Watford Palace Theatre, where he is a creative associate, and Ring Ring, a new version of La Ronde for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In June 2015 he made his Royal Court debut with Violence and Son, directed by Hamish Pirie. Iphigenia in Splott for Sherman Cymru won Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2015.

Lucy Jackson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham, UK. Her research focuses on Greek drama, theatre history and classical receptions of the 21st century. She has published The Chorus of Drama in the Fourth Century BCE: Presence and Representation (2019).