The Police (play)
Encyclopedia
The Police is a play written by Polish playwright Sławomir Mrożek.
Written in 1958, it is Mrozek's first play and one of his most acclaimed early works. Written in the style of Theatre of the Absurd
, and listed in the Martin Esslin
book of the same name, it was produced at the Phoenix Theatre, New York, in 1961. A television production was aired in the U.S.
in 1971 by PBS
. It was directed by Christopher Loscher in 2007 at the Battersea Arts Centre
in London as part of the TimeOut Critics' Choice season.
The play takes place in a mythical country where all opposition to the state has disappeared and the last remaining political prisoner is to be released. Rather than face the prospect of retiring the police force, the chief of police decides to create an enemy of the state by ordering one of his officers to commit political crimes. The absurdity of the play culminates when the characters mutually arrest each other repeatedly, in an attempt to restore order and meaning to their world.
Written in 1958, it is Mrozek's first play and one of his most acclaimed early works. Written in the style of Theatre of the Absurd
Theatre of the Absurd
The Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction, written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work...
, and listed in the Martin Esslin
Martin Esslin
Martin Julius Esslin OBE was a Hungarian-born English producer and playwright dramatist, journalist, adaptor and translator, critic, academic scholar and professor of drama best known for coining the term "Theatre of the Absurd" in his work of that name...
book of the same name, it was produced at the Phoenix Theatre, New York, in 1961. A television production was aired in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1971 by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. It was directed by Christopher Loscher in 2007 at the Battersea Arts Centre
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre is a performance space near Clapham Junction in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth that specialises in music and theatre productions.-History:...
in London as part of the TimeOut Critics' Choice season.
The play takes place in a mythical country where all opposition to the state has disappeared and the last remaining political prisoner is to be released. Rather than face the prospect of retiring the police force, the chief of police decides to create an enemy of the state by ordering one of his officers to commit political crimes. The absurdity of the play culminates when the characters mutually arrest each other repeatedly, in an attempt to restore order and meaning to their world.