The Royal Court Theatre and Drum Theatre Plymouth present

The Empire at Theatre Local

By DC Moore

2 June - 5 June 2010

The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST

Tickets: £15. Mondays all seats £10.

Patch you up, all nice like, splint, bandage your leg. All very civilized actually. But then. Then. We hand you over.

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Next Production: Sucker Punch

Helmand in the height of summer. Gary, a British soldier, and Hafizullah, his Afghan colleague, guard an injured young prisoner, Zia, found in the heat of battle. Gary wants answers, Hafizullah just wants to make it through the day and Zia thinks there has been a big mistake.

DC Moore’s second play dissects the politics of occupation, home and abroad. His first play Alaska opened at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in 2007. He won the inaugural Tom Erhardt Award for promising new playwrights in 2008.

Age guidance 14+, running time 1hr 25mins approx.

The Empire ran at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court before transferring to Theatre Local.

Select a Date

Date Time Venue Notes Prices Booking Link

Available Performances

Dates in June
Wed 2 Jun 2010 7:00pm The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST
Thu 3 Jun 2010 7:00pm The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST
Fri 4 Jun 2010 7:00pm The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST
Sat 5 Jun 2010 4:00pm The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST
Sat 5 Jun 2010 7:00pm The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST

Sold out Performances

DC Moore

Writer

Mike Bradwell


Director

Jason Taylor

Lighting Designer

Bob Bailey

Designer

Nick Manning

Sound

Reviews

He has a strong eye for a dramatic set-up and a superpower for colloquial dialogue. Superbly staged. Joe Armstrong is stunning as the jaded Gary, who nudges away unforgivingly at Zia’s story.

— The Times

A grittily gripping war-zone showdown and a thought-provoking meeting of differently wired minds. Sweatily atmospheric.

— Daily Telegraph

…Bradwells production makes superb use of the space at the Royal Courts intimate Upstairs theatre. Bob Baileys set, scorched, bleak and rubble-strewn, makes the space feel even tighter, effectively draws the eye in on these heat-numbed and increasingly desperate men.

— Natasha Tripney, Music OMH4 stars rv. …A brilliant depiction of twenty-first-century tribalism, at home and abroad…
rn. Sam Marlowe, Time Out, April 14th 2010

…In the detail of the mens dilemma Moore suggests the panicky disorientation of war, touches on the complexity of the conflict in Afghanistan (the play is set in 2006) and gives you a sweaty-palmed inkling of what it might be like to improvise a right course of action in a desert war zone. His play is edgy, surprisingly funny and unbearably tense…

— Sarah Hemming, Financial Times, April 11th 2010

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