About the Play:

Palace of the End is a full-length drama by Judith Thompson. A female soldier accused of prisoner abuse, a disgraced weapons inspector, a persecuted Iraqi woman – each wrestle with the truth in this hard-hitting play. A searing triptych of three monologues all exposing the ugly truth behind the headlines of the war in Iraq.

Palace of the End is based around the lives of three distinct characters – a young soldier imprisoned for her misconduct at a prison camp in Iraq, a British microbiologist-cum-UN weapons inspector who exposes the false justifications for war and an Iraqi mother/political opponent of Saddam Hussein – Palace of the End details the reality of the war in Iraq from three unique perspectives. With its emphasis on the human voice and power of the soul in the midst of a destructive war, each account is a riveting and brilliantly portrayed indictment of one of the contemporary world's worst conflicts.

Palace of the End premiered in 2007 at the NoHo Arts Center in Los Angeles and in 2008 at Canadian Stage in Toronto, and since then has been produced all over the world in many languages.

Cast: 2 women, 1 man

What people say:

"...this triptych of personal stories about Iraq by the Canadian Judith Thompson is exceptional – partly because it displays a remarkable empathy, and partly because it creates its own internal tension by juxtaposing the cruelty of Saddam Hussein's regime with the torture and indiscriminate killing ... these stories may not change anyone's mind about Iraq. What they do is jolt our sleeping consciences and use individual stories to explore the wider tragedy." — The Guardian (UK)

"Judith Thompson paints a richly textured portrait…. Thompson defiantly scrapes to the marrow of opposing camps, offering a lament that is theological and tragic and contains a rare, eerie beauty." — LA Weekly

"Perspectives on Iraq vividly staged." — Studio City Sun

"Palace of the End raises the bar. …beautifully specific writing… packs a mean punch… as quietly unforgettable as it is purposely rending." — Los Angeles Times Critics Choice

"Palace of the End… never crosses the line of abject moralizing. The issues are presented as theatre; the voice is focused, commanding. The truth is a catharsis for redemption." — Tolucan Times

About the Playwright:

Judith Thompson, OC is a highly esteemed Canadian playwright and educator. She has twice won the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama for White Biting Dog and The Other Side of the Dark. Other often-produced works include Sled, The Crackwalker, I Am Yours, Lion in the Streets and many more. In 2006 she was invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada, and in 2008 she became the first Canadian to be awarded the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize honouring the best English-language women writers worldwide for her play Palace of the End. She is currently a professor at the University of Guelph for the School of English and Theatre Studies teaching courses in acting and playwriting.