Reflections of an Angry Playwright: David Storey's <i>cromwell</I>

Abstract

In many of the sources, David Storey's Cromwell is considered one of the historical plays of the post-war British Theatre. Yet it does not fit the traditional definition of historical drama as this play lacks realistic settings, chronological time and characters. Cromwell is unlocalized in time or place but only its title points that it is set in England during the Civil War. Also the time that passes during the course of the play is never specified. In Cromwell, the title character never appears; however, the purpose of Storey is to criticize the authoritarian oppression. Thus, the aim of this paper is to reveal David Storey's reaction against the oppressive government of the period while examining Cromwell from literary, social and historical perspectives.