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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Jim Broadbent

The play that changed my life: Jim Broadbent on Ken Campbell’s electrifying epic Illuminatus!

Ken Campbell, circa early 1977.
‘I don’t think he turned anyone away’ … Ken Campbell, circa early 1977. Photograph: Don McPhee/The Guardian

A teacher at Lamda had recommended early on that I might be suited to Ken Campbell’s way of working. I didn’t have the nerve to do anything about it. Eventually I did call and he said: “Oh, this is remarkable because I’m just about to do the most remarkable play yet done on Planet World! Read these books and come and have a chat.” So I did.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy [by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson] is a sort of science fiction piece, drawing together an awful lot of the then current conspiracy theories. It’s a huge thing that spreads over lots of different stories and characters.

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