On 2 May 1982 the nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano when it was 36 miles outside the Total Exclusion Zone.
368 men were killed.
So what’s funny?
Steven Berkoff’s Sink the Belgrano!, that’s what.
In a scathing expose that blasts the myths and fallacies of ‘responsible government’ out of the water, Berkoff comes up with a Thatcher Government that is a cross between Spitting Images and Henry V.
You can access the script of this play via the British Library’s MPS Modern Playscripts Collection.
Steven Berkoff talks about Sink The Belgrano!, which was performed at Half Moon Theatre on Mile End Road in 1986. He describes why he wrote the play and recalls the reaction of the press. Interviewed by Rosie Vincent.
Martin Heaney is an academic who worked on a number of participatory projects at Half Moon Theatre in White Horse Road in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He talks about seeing Sink The Belgrano! at Half Moon Theatre on the Mile End Road. Interviewed by Alexia-Pyrrha Ashford.
Actor, Maggie Steed recalls performing in Steven Berkoff’s Sink The Belgrano! at Half Moon Theatre on the Mile End Road. She played Maggot (Margaret Thatcher) and talks about the politics behind the production. Interviewed by Kavana Joyett.
Michael Le Poer Trench was the photographer for many productions at Half Moon Theatre in the mid-1980s. He talks about Sink The Belgrano!. Interviewed by Toni Tsaera.
Linda Marlowe talks about seeing Berkoff’s Sink The Belgrano! at Half Moon Theatre on Mile End Road. Interviewed by Toni Tsaera.