Drawing the Line, Hampstead Theatre

Drawing the Line is the new big play at the Hampstead Theatre in Swiss Cottage. It boasts a big cast, big names and a big story.  

This is a new reunion for writer Howard Brenton and director Howard Davies, following their sell-out show 55 Days held at the Hampstead last year to rave reviews. Playwright Howard Brenton’s recent theatre credits include the critically acclaimed #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei (Hampstead Theatre), Never So Good , Danton’s Death (National Theatre). Award-winning director Howard Davies’ recent work includes Children of the Sun , The Last of the Haussmans and Paul (National Theatre) his first collaboration with Howard Brenton.

Brenton’s epic Drawing the Line was initially a film script. When reading it, Davies suggested that it could make a good play. Indeed, the text is Brenton’s imagining of real life history, the huge undertaking of a court judge, Cyril Radcliffe, who was sent by Attlee’s Labour government in 1947 to partition the land in India.

At a time when the British Empire was just beginning to lose steam, and when tensions between the Muslim League and Gandhi’s partisans were growing, Radcliffe was sent to India, a country he had never visited before. With little information, no expert support and no knowledge of map reading, he was to draw the border which would divide the Indian sub-continent. To make matters worse, he had just six weeks to complete the task.

With a cast of 17, we expect that this epic new play will bring us an interesting outlook about a key moment in the contraction of the British Empire and the construction of new leading nations. Britain wanted out as fast as possible, but the deed was done – and the legacy of colonialism endures today. This new play should make us reflect on the unchanging quality of political process over centuries. A big subject indeed, treated with sharp insight and witty humour.

Tickets: £15 - £32

Address & Map:  Eton Ave, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 3EU

Nearest Tube: Swiss Cotage