Writers reflect on Thatcher in season at Theatre503

Thatcherwrite, a series of short plays looking at the politics and legacy of the late Margaret Thatcher, will premiere at Battersea’s Theatre503 in June.

Playwrights involved include Dan Rebellato (Chekhov in Hell, Soho Theatre), Fraser Grace (Breakfast with Mugabe, RSC), Judy Upton (Ashes and San, Royal Court) and Dominic Cavendish (Daily Telegraph theatre critic and adapter of George Orwell’s Coming Up For Air).

Theatre503’s literary manager Steve Harper, who is curating the season, said: “No other figure in living memory has been the catalyst for such divisive expressions of emotion-honoured by the pomp and regalia of a ceremonial funeral whilst mocked as a burning effigy on makeshift funeral pyres.

“Love her or hate her, her unique achievements were many, her personality etched onto the history of this country, for good and for bad. She was a game changer, leaving the country and the political landscape she inherited irreparably altered.”

Previous seasons at 503 have included Hacked, in response to the phone hacking crises, Coalition, examining the current UK government, and Decade, a look back at the events that shaped the ‘naughties’.

Thatcherwrite runs from 11 to 15 June 2013.

– Ben Lockwood