[1] The story begins after explorer Henry Morton Stanley, has gone to relieve Emin Pasha, governor of Equatoria, from a siege by Mahdist forces.

He leaves behind him a 'rear column' with supplies at the Yambuya camp on the Aruwimi River and instructs them to wait until the Arab slave trader, Tippu Tib, has brought 600 more porters before following on to Equatoria.

Bonny informs Barttelot that he is only a medical orderly, and couldn't make such a recommendation, but is fully in support of the major carrying on his duties.

Troup demands that they talk about what they are going to do, arguing that Stanley couldn't possibly want them to wait indefinitely, particularly as medical supplies are running low.

A native woman is tied by the neck to a post, suspected of stealing morphine from the supplies tent while the guards were sleeping on duty.

Jameson returns from another sortie to report that he has met Tippu Tib, who has promised he will be there in a month with the 600 porters, bringing great relief all round.

Jameson explains that, as he had never seen a cannibal feast, under Tippu Tib's suggestion he had bought the girl so that she could be given to a cannibalistic tribe, and he could sketch her being killed and eaten.

"The Rear Column" was first performed at the Globe Theatre in London (now the Gielgud Theatre) on 22 February 1978, directed by Harold Pinter, with the following cast:[3][page needed] The play experienced negative reviews and a run of only 44 performances, though Benedict Nightingale wrote in the New Statesman, "Besides Gray's writing, Harold Pinter's unemphatic directing and a remarkably consistent company supply a super-abundance of that unfashionable theatrical commodity, individual character.

His stride and pace are stylish and forceful; it is his bearings that sometimes fail...James Hammerstein directs with attention and variety that help compensate for the play”s considerable length and its tendency to reiterate its emotional points.

The cast was as follows:[7] Screenonline described it as "a riveting studio recording of the Globe Theatre commission...Directed with verve by Pinter.