Light Shining in Buckinghamshire facts for kids

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire is a play by British playwright Caryl Churchill written in 1976.

The play is set during the English Civil War and part of it dramatises the Putney Debates. Characters include Diggers, Levellers and Ranters. Their idealism is contrasted with the pragmatism of Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton.

The play was Churchill's first collaboration with the Joint Stock Theatre Company. The title is taken from a Digger pamphlet More Light Shining in Buckinghamshire. In 2008, Mark Ravenhill wrote in The Guardian, "Written for the leftwing company Joint Stock, the play charts the disintegration of radical political possibilities during the English civil war, skilfully balancing individual and communal experiences. It is a play that is rich in language: prayer, debate, ecstatic meetings, the stumbling attempts of the newly empowered to find a voice."

Productions

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire opened at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, running between 7 September 1976 and 11 September 1976. It was produced by the Joint Stock Theatre Group with direction by Max Stafford-Clark. Churchill specified that parts should swapped and the same character be played by different actors.

It was revived at London's National Theatre in 2015. Direction was by Lyndsey Turner, with the cast that featured Leo Bill, Daniel Flynn and a "50-plus cast, standing shoulder to shoulder, is a powerful thing, especially when singing Helen Chadwick's choral arrangements in heartfelt harmony."

It had its US premiere Off-Broadway at the Perry Street Theater in February 1991, directed by Lisa Peterson.

The play was revived Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop on May 7, 2018. Directed by Rachel Chavkin, the cast features Vinie Burrows, Rob Campbell, Matthew Jeffers, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Gregg Mozgala and Evelyn Spahr.