Five Reasons to See The Quest
Richard Crane was a founder member of the Brighton Combination and the Pool Theatre Edinburgh, where his first short plays were produced; he has also worked as an actor. Peter Hall engaged him as the first resident dramatist at the National Theatre and he wrote six plays during his year there.
I Am A Warehouse premiered at the Brighton Festival in 2010 and Dancing With Demons previewed at the Victoria & Albert Museum this year. The Quest was originally staged by Bradford University in 1974 and won a Fringe First award at Edinburgh.
1. The Quest is a 21st century story about a dream of good government brought down by scandal and corruption: the once and future legend retold as breaking news. 22 young actors come together in an ensemble, to challenge prevailing attitudes and present a thrilling, contemporary, thought-provoking show.
3. The fading grandeur of Eastbourne’s Floral Hall falls silent as triumph turns to tragedy and terror stalks the land. The Quest is a reminder of the fragility of kingship, and the dangers of religious and political extremism, as the Round Table is rocked between Mordred and the prose-speakers and Galahad and the seekers of the Holy Grail.
4. The Quest fulfils Bertolt Brecht‘s wish for a theatre that merges with sport. Spectators on banked seating watch jousting, dancing, trampolining and a pitched battle. In the run-up to the London Olympics, The Quest celebrates a new generation of young actor/athletes going for gold.
5. Almost forty years on, the awarding-winning sensation of the Edinburgh Festival returns in a time a national need, like the legend of Arthur itself.
