The Protagonists

Never before published and written in three weeks in the autumn of 1967 after two visits to the Greek detention island of Leros, The Protagonists is Brenda Chamberlain’s response—both heartbreakingly lyrical and disturbingly visceral—to the right-wing coup d’état of April 1967. A dangerous, dissident text that draws on the conventions of absurdist theater, the play can be viewed as the dark culmination of Chamberlain’s profound, career-long exploration of individuality, belonging, incarceration, imaginative freedom and the social role of the artist. It is also a startlingly candid articulation of her own emotional and psychological “internment” at the time. This edition includes a wealth of additional material, including Chamberlain’s own sketches, photographs of the play in performance, an interview with the lead actor, a contemporary review of the play’s performance, and an in-depth essay contextualizing Chamberlain’s literary techniques and influences.

Brenda Chamberlain was a Welsh artist, poet, and writer. During World War II, she worked on the production of the Caseg Broadsheets, a series of six editions of poetry compilations. She is the author of The Green Heart and A Rope of Vines. Damian Walford Davies is the head of the department of English and creative writing at Aberystwyth University in Wales. He is the author of the poetry collections Suit of Lights—a Wales Literature Exchange Bookshelf Choice—and Witch.