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Meet Edgar and Alice. Married for almost thirty years, theirs is a relationship of mutual explosive loathing. Strindberg's tale paints a compelling and bitterly funny portrait of a magnificently doomed couple, whose ongoing battle threatens not only their future, but that of their friends and children as well.
Howard Brenton's new version of Dances of Death includes both Part One and the rarely performed Part Two of this masterpiece of European theatre, condensed into a single two-act drama. The play premiered at the Gate Theatre, London, in May 2013.
"Ferociously intense... a howl of primitive power." - The Times
"A particularly excoriating exercise in psychological warfare... remarkable." - Telegraph
"A blistering account of a mildewed marriage." - Whatsonstage.com
"Howard Brenton has worked wonders... this fresh and exciting new version demands to be seen." - British Theatre Guide
Howard Brenton is a prolific playwright whose plays have been staged at the Royal Court Theatre, National Theatre, RSC and Shakespeare's Globe among others. Other writing work includes collaborations with David Hare and thirteen episodes of the BBC1 drama series Spooks.
Howard Brenton, FRSL, is a renowned playwright and author. His many plays include The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, adapted from the novel by Robert Tressell (Liverpool Everyman and Chichester Festival Theatre, 2010); Anne Boleyn (Shakespeare’s Globe, 2010 and 2011); 55 Days (Hampstead Theatre, 2012); #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei (Hampstead Theatre, 2013); Drawing the Line (Hampstead Theatre, 2013); Doctor Scroggy's War (Shakespeare's Globe, 2014); Lawrence After Arabia (Hampstead Theatre, 2016); The Blinding Light (Jermyn Street Theatre, 2017); The Shadow Factory (NST City, Southampton, 2018); Jude (Hampstead Theatre, 2019); Cancelling Socrates (Jermyn Street Theatre, London, 2022) and Churchill in Moscow (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, 2025).
He has collaborated severeal times with other writers (e.g., Moscow Gold with Tariq Ali, RSC, 1990), and has adapted various classics, particularly Strindberg's Dances of Death (Gate Theatre, 2013), Miss Julie (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Jermyn Street Theatre, London, 2017), and Creditors (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Jermyn Street Theatre, London, 2019). He has also writtne for the screen, most notably on the BBC1 drama series Spooks (2001–05; BAFTA Best Drama Series, 2003).