The Secret Rapture by David Hare

Spring 2008

 Cast

Claire Bibby 

Gillian Davis

Fiona Murch

Angela Patrick

Barry Thomas 

Vernon Reeve 

The Secret Rapture is a 1988 British play by David Hare. Its premiere in the Lyttelton auditorium of the Royal National Theatre was directed by Howard Davies.^[1][2] British revivals of the play have included one at the Salisbury Playhouse in 2001^[3] and at the Lyric Theatre, London in 2003.^[4] Hare later adapted it as 1993 film of the same title, also directed by Davies.

It is set in 1980s Britain and examines the impact of Thatcherism on personal relationships within the family of a junior government minister after her father’s death. Hare states that its title refers to a nun’s feeling of ecstasy on being received by God at the moment of her death,^[5][6] rather than the Protestant concept of the Rapture.