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Following the spectacular success of last year's production of Mrs Inchbald's sparkling comedy Wives as they Were, and Maids as they Are, her only tragedy is now given its première European professional production, more than two hundred years after it was written. The play is inspired by the horrific events of the French Revolution and is a tragic exploration of war and of questions of justice, mercy or retribution in its aftermath. Felt to be too controversial to be staged in her own time, even its author accepted that - "from the time that I first undertook the foregoing scenes, I never flattered myself that they would be proper to appear on the stage. The subject is so horrid, that I thought it would shock, rather than give satisfaction, to an audience. Still, I found it so truly tragic in the essential springs of terror and pity, that I could not resist the impulse of adapting it to the stage." The play retains its power to this day and the tale of the family Tricastin and their tragic demise is as provocative and disturbing as it was when it was first suppressed - by its own author.

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Author: Elizabeth Inchbald