The Emperor Jones

Southern American ex-convict, Brutus Jones, aided by his double-crossing British ally, Smithers, connives his way into an uncompromising dictatorship over a remote island in the West Indies. Faced with a terrifying people’s revolt, the delusional Emperor escapes to the dark forest and a promise of salvation.

But in the searing heat and to the ominous pulse of his trackers’ drums, Jones is driven to make his way through every lead bullet in his gun, right down to the silver one he is saving for himself.

Eugene O’Neill’s controversial 1920 play, The Emperor Jones is by turns shocking and mesmerising.