- Amongst Barbarians
"Amongst Barbarians" is
* a play (
1989 ) by British playwrightMichael Wall first performed at theRoyal Exchange Theatre ,Manchester prior to a transfer to theHampstead Theatre inLondon ; and* a British made-for-TV movie (
1990 ) directed byJane Howell starringDavid Jason ,Anne Carroll ,Rowena Cooper , Con O'Neill and Lee Ross."Amongst Barbarians" is set far away from
Margaret Thatcher 's Britain inPenang ,Malaysia , a former British colony, where two young Englishmen have been arrested for drug trafficking. As they both face the death penalty, their relatives travel to Penang to come to their rescue. However, they soon find out that there is nothing they can do to save the boys' lives. In the course of their futile attempts at influencing the authorities, theirracism becomes more than apparent. The question which is never made explicit is of course who the realbarbarian s are.Wall's play is based on a true story.
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