MASTERPIECES

by Sarah Daniels

Masterpieces is a powerful issue-play, a vehement statement against pornography that has set theatre audiences on edge since its first production in the 1980s. Written in response to excessive and graphically violent films, Masterpieces is a play written in anger that still holds relevance today.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Read For School

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Sarah Daniels (born November 1956 in London [1]) is a British dramatist. She has been a prolific writer since her first professionally performed play, Ripen Our Darkness, was given a production at the Royal Court in 1981.

Reviews

[Lucia Collado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too bad so many men deny the link between pornography, sex, and violence against women - guess it comes at too high a cost… Love this play’s whole “yeah, men objectifying women has made me go batshit crazy, and?” vibe

[Emma Cahoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gasped multiple times and the final scene left my jaw hanging open…. horrifying & real

[louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

[ novembre 2025 ]

extremely harsh to read for me; i also NEEDED to read it at this exact moment in my life

the use of distancing effects to make a systemic critique of patriarchy instead of just a personal one is incredible, i forget theatre is so efficient like that sometimes... this was just so great i can't even describe why...... the distanciation was just so well-crafted sarah daniels you are a genius

[Sarah Pitman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play is interesting to read in 2025. It is, first and foremost, a piece of feminist theatre which seeks to shed light on women's inequality. Through the tale of one woman who was driven to the murder of a man by what is essentially the physically and psychologically traumatic effects of misogyny, the reader/viewer is given a window into the hardship endured by women everywhere (correction: the United Kingdom). Masterpieces manipulates time so we see moments from the main character's trial, adding suspense to what is otherwise a tense, but ordinary series of domestic disputes. The play delves into the lives of several characters and explores how they are experiencing sexism in their own, personal ways, and this, I think, is to its detriment. It makes the text less focused and takes away from the key dramatic moment, which is when Rowena shoves a man into the path of an oncoming train. What's more, we are only given clarity on this moment in monologue at the end of the play, a sort of Greek-tragedy style off-stage climax that isn't particularly my style. Perhaps if the heart of this play was supposed to be Rowena's relationship with her own husband rather than this moment of impulsive violence I could see it, but the men in this play are not particularly nuanced.

That said, I appreciate Masterpieces more placing it in the context of its time. It is a perspective play where men do not control the perspective, and by default, appear more one-dimensional than the female characters. So much of it seems heavily stereotyped to me, writing this forty years after the play premiered, but that is because I live in a time where the archetypal villain of the Terrible Man has been confined (somewhat) to past fiction. This, of course, is partially in turn because of the work women did to fight for equality decades before me. So all in all, it would be hard for me to imagine a theatre company putting this play on these days because I don't feel its theatrical merits quite measure up to its original social impact. Maybe that's why we don't study this play, but still study Machinal by Sophie Treadwell--which I believe is an early predecessor for these kinds of themes within theatre and is frankly, still a BANGER. Forget where I found this play. A book box? Continuing my love of reading random plays from random places.

[Anthony Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play by Sarah Daniels packs a punch to the solar plexus, the groin and the throat and any other area likely to floor you. It is an analysis of the casual assumptions men make about women and sex, about male selfishness, male lack of empathetic imagination, male domination of the law, the male sense of male entitlement, the thwarted male’s capacity for unkindness and self-justification, violent male violation of women’s bodies.

If I had my time again, what qualities would I want to have the strength and self-understanding to cultivate? - Restraint and self-control guided by emotional imagination, an objective sense of my own sexual impulses, less consideration of self and more consideration for others, especially women.

An uncomfortable read, and I’m sure it would be even more uncomfortable in the theatre. I can't say I 'really liked it', but it had a forceful impact.

[Eri (The Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so mind blowing and accurate. Brilliant.

[silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

needs to be added to the femcel canon immediately

[betsy]

that was a lot and now i'm just pissed off

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't know what to rate this. Masterpieces is really short so I read it in one sitting. It has a lot of interesting plot and characters, but at the same time it is so aggravating and provoking. It is very in your face about misogyny and pornography and Sarah Daniels opinions on the fact.
As most plays go, it probably would have been a lot better watched as opposed to read.
I just feel very meh after reading this. Don't really care either way.

[Romany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book - it made me laugh out loud whilst dealing with issues that are still relevant today. The amount of characters sometimes made it quite confusing to piece the story together, but they were well written and real.
It's such a quick read and an interesting one, I'd recommend any feminist or drama geek to give it a read.