Racing Demon

Racing Demon, the first installment in David Hare's trilogy about the health—or sickness—of three British institutions, details the struggle of four clergymen to make sense of their mission in South London. A popular British card game where the quick and confident always beat the thoughtful and indecisive, Racing Demon is as a telling metaphor for this play's critique of the leadership valued in contemporary British culture.

Hare's trilogy gives us harsh yet well-considered views of the Church of England, the British legal system, Thatcherian politics, and the English press. Alongside this first work in the trilogy, Murmuring Judges (the second play) takes a behind-the-scenes look at Britain's laws, courtrooms, and notions of justice, while The Absence of War (the third) examines the life of a Labour Party member. (Hare has also written Asking Around, a documentary book that offers the full background on how and why he composed these plays.)