The Castle by Howard Barker

“First there was the bailiff, and we broke the bailiff. Then there was God, and we broke God. And lastly there was cock, and we broke that too. Freed ground. Freed religion. Freed the body.”

It’s a rainy day in middle England and Stucley returns home from War to find his land untended, his sheep wild and his wife in bed with a witch. In the absence of men, a new way of life has emerged. No religion. No class. No hunger. The women are in charge now. They have their freedom and they’re not going to give it back. Stucley orders the erection of a castle to restore order and revive the old way of life. Will he succeed or will he inspire more conflict?

Religion, ideology and sex battle it out in this brutally funny and hopelessly tragic modern classic from playwright Howard Barker. Rarely performed in the UK, six times Off West End Award nominated Space Productions’ exciting revival delves into a world where love is ugly, gender is tribal and in the fight for control, no one wins.