Nowadays Howard Brenton is our top writer of history plays but in the 1970s he was a
more overtly political writer, and things don't get much more overt than
Magnificence, which opens with a group of idealistic young protesters
breaking into - what they think is - an abandoned flat. In the first sign of why the
Finborough might have seen the play as ripe for revival, they're planning to squat
there in protest at people being made homeless all over London while houses are left
empty, as tenants get kicked out of flats they've lived in all their lives so they
can be redeveloped and rented out at an inflated price. They're enthusiastic and
somewhat naïve, but as the days go by the squat is watched by bailiff Slaughter
(Chris Porter) - a man profiting from the situation they're campaigning against, and
one with a reputation for dangerous practices.
