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Landscape with Weapon
"'Qualms?' Oh yeah, sure, I have 'qualms'. Everybody has qualms. But I'll overcome them. "
To his family's horror, Ned reveals he's the brains behind a new military technology so sophisticated, so extraordinary, it will revolutionise the nature of warfare. It's only when the Ministry of Defence demands intellectual ownership that Ned begins to question himself, resisting the might of the weapons industry with frightening consequences.
Landscape with Weapon is a wry account of private anguish, public responsibility and a problem with no solution. The play premiered at the National Theatre on 20 March 2007.
Joe Penhall's previous work for the National Theatre, Blue/Orange, was the winner of the Olivier Awards Best Play (2001), the Evening Standard Award Best Play (2000), and the Critics Circle Award Best Play (2000).
To his family's horror, Ned reveals he's the brains behind a new military technology so sophisticated, so extraordinary, it will revolutionise the nature of warfare. It's only when the Ministry of Defence demands intellectual ownership that Ned begins to question himself, resisting the might of the weapons industry with frightening consequences.
Landscape with Weapon is a wry account of private anguish, public responsibility and a problem with no solution. The play premiered at the National Theatre on 20 March 2007.
Joe Penhall's previous work for the National Theatre, Blue/Orange, was the winner of the Olivier Awards Best Play (2001), the Evening Standard Award Best Play (2000), and the Critics Circle Award Best Play (2000).
- GenresPlays
96 pages, Paperback
First published March 29, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 21, 2023
Ned was just a silly guy
August 17, 2015
I saw this four or five years ago and don't remember too much, so I suppose that says something. I just reread the script, however, and it poses some interesting questions about what is right, and what is wrong.
June 6, 2018
Very cleverly written to remain very relevant for a long time to come yet.
Great pacy dialogue for the reckless characters.
Great pacy dialogue for the reckless characters.
May 14, 2009
I saw Landscape two years ago at the National Theater in London and was quite blown away by it. With tight, witty dialogue and impeccable performances by Julian Rhind-Tutt and Tom Hollander (Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice), who wouldn't be blown away?
The premise is brilliant: Ned, a genius scientist akin to da Vinci, has created the blueprints for several small flying drones that will make victory in Iraq quite simple. When his brother Dan, a dentist who injects botox into willing patients, finds out about Ned's newfangled invention he tries desperately to talk him out of it, leading to a confrontation that at one point leads the two to wrestle each other on top of their take-out curry.
I didn't fully realize how difficult the piece would be to perform until reading it now, in 2009. There are frequent interruptions between characters and many repeated words (at one point Dan says "I" eighteen times in a row). Somehow the actors pulled it off without making it seem absurd. It looks awkward on paper, but it worked on stage.
I would give the piece five stars, but I like certain aspects about the play less after reading it. While it's even-handed about the pros and cons of war and innovation, it is anything but even-handed about Americans. There are no positive arguments about America, only potshots (though they're few) about how stupid and uncultured we are. The unfairness here makes me wonder how well Penhall knows America, especially small town America. I have to think that like many authors from edgy metropolitan circles, Penhall only knows us through a telescope. Well, that makes for easy, harmful writing.
The premise is brilliant: Ned, a genius scientist akin to da Vinci, has created the blueprints for several small flying drones that will make victory in Iraq quite simple. When his brother Dan, a dentist who injects botox into willing patients, finds out about Ned's newfangled invention he tries desperately to talk him out of it, leading to a confrontation that at one point leads the two to wrestle each other on top of their take-out curry.
I didn't fully realize how difficult the piece would be to perform until reading it now, in 2009. There are frequent interruptions between characters and many repeated words (at one point Dan says "I" eighteen times in a row). Somehow the actors pulled it off without making it seem absurd. It looks awkward on paper, but it worked on stage.
I would give the piece five stars, but I like certain aspects about the play less after reading it. While it's even-handed about the pros and cons of war and innovation, it is anything but even-handed about Americans. There are no positive arguments about America, only potshots (though they're few) about how stupid and uncultured we are. The unfairness here makes me wonder how well Penhall knows America, especially small town America. I have to think that like many authors from edgy metropolitan circles, Penhall only knows us through a telescope. Well, that makes for easy, harmful writing.
March 18, 2012
Interesting...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews