The Burning Glass tells the story of Christopher Terriford, a British scientist who discovers a new method of capturing solar energy.
[1][2][3][4] Terriford and the British Prime Minister debate at the intersection of morality, patriotism, conscience, and necessity.
[1][2][3][4] The Burning Glass opened at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End on 18 February 1954 and was a success.
[8] Audrey Williamson wrote that "The plot... involves... a battle of will and conscience, as gripping as any scene of action, between the Prime Minister and the scientist" and "It is a play, with good acting, to fire the stage.
"[6] Anthony Hartley of The Spectator was archly dismissive of the play's denouement, in which Terriford concedes to the British Government the right to use the burning glass for war in event of uttermost need – "Why not [to] the Russians?...
all the characters except [the enemy agent] Hardlip devote themselves to proclaiming the unspoken assumptions of the English upper classes.... What purports to be a play of ideas conveys a country-house ethic of the necessity for having the right chaps in the right places...