ADELAIDE — CATHERINE CARTER, director of Theatre Praxis's latest production of British playwright Howard Brenton's Bloody Poetry, spoke to Green Left Weekly's NATALIE WOODLOCK about the play.
"Bloody Poetry explores the lives and political ideas of the romantic poets Lord George Byron and Shelley, and their mistresses and wives, Claire Claremont and Mary Shelly", Carter said.
"All four have different ideas of utopia and how it will come about. Byron and Shelley were the first poets in the oppressive Victorian regime to publicly declare that God did not exist. In the end, they become victims of the same oppression they fought."
Carter points out that they "inflicted much injustice on Mary and Claire and their families. All characters are in a sense tragic."
The play is based on writings that have survived. It explores and contrasts each character's political ideas.
"Byron and Shelley rejected the control of the church and monarch, and opposed restrictions on thought and philosophy, which they believed oppressed individual freedoms", said Carter. "Both also denounced marriage, monogamy and religion."
"Byron believed in living in the shit, in experiencing the life of the poor. He became a drunkard, caught lots of sexual diseases and all sorts of other awful things. He also fought in the Greek Revolution and against the Turkish invasion of Greece. He believed it was up to the individual to find their own utopia.
"Shelley was active in the Irish struggle against the British. A great believer in science, he thought the greatest tool was the ability of a person to understand their own mind."
Mary Shelly and Claremont were probably more educated in political theory than Byron or Shelley, said Carter. "Mary devoted her life to poetry, writing and publishing (she wrote Frankenstein) and, after many deaths in her family, became a recluse.
"Claremont was involved in the emerging feminist movement. She started a feminist group and organised radical actions. She denounced marriage and relationships with men."
Brenton is a British Marxist playwright whose work flourished in the 1980s, during the Thatcher era. Carter said, "In the late '80s he became disillusioned, as the entrenchment of the Thatcher regime increased. He began to focus his plays on historical examples where people had struggled against right-wing regimes."
Carter believes that Bloody Poetry contains much that is relevant to contemporary issues, including the republic debate; the death of Princess Di and its impact on the British people; notions of the "left" and "right" in politics.
"Many of the issues raised in the play are still in the forefront of people's minds. Are we fair? How far has the feminist movement actually come? It is a great piece of work — dynamic, entertaining, funny and very moving."
Bloody Poetry can be seen from Wednesday to Saturday between November 21-29 at 8pm at the Lion Arts Centre, corner of Morphett Street and North Terrace. Tickets are $18/$9. For bookings telephone 8212 5211.