Eleven vests
By: Edward Bond
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2013
Place of publication: London]
Language: eng
Description: 'Eleven Vests', first presented in 1997 by Big Brum Theatre in Education, is a cold and powerful examination of the mechanisms of authority and violence. One person, known as Student, is involved in two events: one at school, and one later as a soldier in the army. He is first accused of having slashed a book and a fellow student's jacket, and is confronted by the head teacher. The Student meets the Head's accusations with silence and passivity, to begin with. Years later, the Student is being taught how to use a rifle and bayonet, his instructor cultivating the violence which will be used on the battlefield. 'Eleven Vests' places the adult and child side by side, gesturing to the links between them, and questioning the origins of violence and responsibility.
Notes: Previously issued in print: with Tuesday. London: Methuen Drama, 1997.