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Principia (1982-84) |
Principia
was written between November 1982 and June 1984 and is dedicated to Austin Allen
who commissioned the work with funds provided by the RVW Trust, and who gave
the first performance on 17th February 1986 at The Palace Theatre, London, with
Michael Finnissy.
The text was constructed by A.L. Jones entirely from the writings and reported
statements of Sir Isaac Newton, not only a great physicist but also a frustrated
alchemist, theological speculator and unscrupulous careerist. Principia is not, however, a dramatic monologue but a "portrait" whose complexities
and contradictions remain as in the fractured state of thought.
© Richard Barrett