By 1792, Elizabeth Inchbald had achieved national acclaim through her satirical comedies; these populist works, rich in wit, with exciting plotlines and beautiful prose, had already provided a subtle platform for her political views on women's rights and social equality.

The Massacre was Inchbald's only tragedy, sadly destined never to be performed in her own lifetime. On the advice of her contemporaries she surpressed the play which she had written as a commentary on the ongoing atrocities of the French Revolution, inlcuding the September Massacres in Paris.

It was considered by her peers to be inflammatory as it both depicted scenes of violence, which were raw reminders of the civil war in France, and advocated equality amongst all men and women, regardless of race, religion or class. These concepts were still considered by many in power to be contentious and dangerous given that social unrest was still high on both sides of the Channel.

The Massacre was given a modern interpretation for its performances at the Theatre Royal in 2009, with a multi-cultural cast and an original score of world music highlighting the universal themes of the play. It was the first proffessional performance of the play since its writing and the first Georgian tragedy to be fully staged at the Theatre Royal since the begining of its Restoring the Repertoire project.

The synopsis of the play:

Riots have led to a bloody genocide in the metropolis; the violence is quickly spilling beyond the city walls and engulfing the provinces. Trapped inside their home, one rural family must decide what action to take: to fight, to flee or to throw themselves on the mercy of their aggressors. Their debate and consequences of their actions are a thought provoking insight into the nature of human violence and mob mentality: what choices do we really have when, on both sides, fear and hatred have taken hold?

Director Colin Blumenau commented at the time of staging the play in 2009:

“This is, without doubt, one of the most important plays I have ever directed. That a play of this nature should have been written at all at this time is surprising, brave and principled. We have given a new interpretation to the text, adding in some of the original source material Inchbald used and making the setting and casting as universal as possible. I believe that The Massacre has real power and we ignore this civilizing debate, and Inchbald’s late 18th century radical stance, at our peril.”