Radical independent politician Henry Trebell is persuaded to join the Conservative Party in order to champion his Bill to Disestablish the Church of England and to use its funds to finance a vast education programme. But a liaison with a married woman, who died after aborting their child, brings private scandal into the political arena.

Written in 1907 but banned by Lord Chamberlain, Waste received its first production almost thirty years later in 1936 at the Westminster Theatre.

For more about Waste at the Almeida theatre, read our First Night Feature or The Big Interview with Samuel West.