Judith: A Parting from the Body
Encyclopedia
Judith: A Parting from the Body is a play
by British
playwright
Howard Barker
. It premiered in 1992, with British actress Melanie Jessop in the title role, in a production by The Wrestling School. The play has since seen revivals on London
's fringe theatre
circuit.
. In Howard Barker's retelling of the story, Judith discovers she holds strong feelings for Holofernes, and the ambiguity of her sacrifice is investigated.
wrote of the original production that it was "..impeccably acted...visually gorgeous as it is profound......"
Play
Play may refer to:* Play , enjoyment by animals including humans* Play , structured literary form of theatre-Bands:* Play , Mexican band* Play , Swedish band-Albums:...
by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Howard Barker
Howard Barker
Howard E. Barker is a British playwright.-The Theatre of Catastrophe :Barker has coined the term "Theatre of Catastrophe" to describe his work...
. It premiered in 1992, with British actress Melanie Jessop in the title role, in a production by The Wrestling School. The play has since seen revivals on London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's fringe theatre
Fringe theatre
Fringe theatre is theatre that is not of the mainstream. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which name comes from Robert Kemp, who described the unofficial companies performing at the same time as the second Edinburgh International Festival as a ‘fringe’, writing: ‘Round the fringe...
circuit.
Synopsis
Judith: A Parting from the Body is a retelling of the Apocryphal story of female heroism in the form of the jewish Judith challenging and killing general HolofernesHolofernes
In the deuterocanonical Book of Judith Holofernes was an invading general of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar dispatched Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west that had withheld their assistance to his reign...
. In Howard Barker's retelling of the story, Judith discovers she holds strong feelings for Holofernes, and the ambiguity of her sacrifice is investigated.
Critical reception
British newspaper The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
wrote of the original production that it was "..impeccably acted...visually gorgeous as it is profound......"