The Culture - A Farce in Two Acts - (Modern Plays) by James Graham (Paperback)

About the Book

January 2018, and a busy day at the offices of Hull 2017. Today is the ceremonial handover to ambassadors from the next UK City of Culture. Meanwhile, the monitoring and evaluation team have to present The Audit -- a measurement of the impact 'the culture' has had on the city. Can their logic models, outcome evaluations and statistical analyses really measure its impact on the people of Hull? The visiting Minister from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport certainly expect so. What could go wrong...? Only, perhaps, Dennis, an average citizen who arrives into the offices of Hull 2017 to register a complaint but accidentally finds himself at the centre of events that could bring the whole thing to its knees. The Culture is a satirical farce in two acts, examining the 'culture' of culture, and the inner workings of the Hull 2017 project.

Book Synopsis

January 2018, and a busy day at the offices of Hull 2017. Today is the ceremonial handover to ambassadors from the next UK City of Culture. Meanwhile, the monitoring and evaluation team have to present The Audit - a measurement of the impact 'the culture' has had on the city. Can their logic models, outcome evaluations and statistical analyses really measure its impact on the people of Hull? The visiting Minister from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport certainly expect so.
What could go wrong...?
Only, perhaps, Dennis, an average citizen who arrives into the offices of Hull 2017 on lowgate to register a complaint but accidentally finds himself at the centre of events that could bring the whole thing to its knees
The Culture is a satirical farce in two acts, examining the 'culture' of culture, and the inner workings of the Hull 2017 project.

Review Quotes

"Hold the front page: a huge hit" --Evening Standard on INK

"Thrillingly dynamic and rambunctiously entertaining...a hell of a story" --The Times on INK

"In the last five years James Graham has established himself as British playwriting's prolific new wunderkind, and here he once again probes the thorny relationships that are the essence of political life." --Standard on Labour of Love

"What's striking is just how coherent this up-to-the-minute response is." --Telegraph on Labour of Love

About the Author

James Graham's plays include: This House (National Theatre and West End- Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award nominated for Best Play), Ink(Almeida Theatre), Monster Raving Loony (Theatre Royal Plymouth and Soho Theatre), The Vote broadcast live onto television on the night of the general election 2015 (Donmar Warehouse), Privacy (Donmar Warehouse and Public Theater New York), The Angry Brigade (Theatre Royal Plymouth and Bush Theatre) and the book for the Finding Neverland musical on Broadway. As Writer in Residence at the Finborough Theatre his plays include Eden's Empire - winner of the Catherine Johnson Best Play Award - The Man, and Sons of York. Writing for TV includes: Coalition (Channel 4), Prisoner's Wives (BBC1) and Caught In a Trap (ITV1). Writing for film includes: X Plus Y. He is currently working on Gypsy Boy for BBC Films, and a film adaptation of 1984.