Drawing the Line: Who are they?

London, 1947. Summoned by the Prime Minister Judge Cyril Radcliffe is given an unlikely mission. He is to travel to India, a country he has never visited, and, in the space of only six weeks, he is to draw the border which will divide the Indian sub-continent into two new Sovereign Dominions. Plunged into a dangerous whirlpool of political intrigue and passion Radcliffe begins to break under the pressure as he comes to realise that he holds in his hands the fate of millions…

Meet the real life characters behind the story that inspired Howard Brenton’s new play…

Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe (30 March 1899 – 1 April 1977) was a British lawyer and Law Lord best known for his role in the partition of British India.

Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) – known informally as Lord Mountbatten – was a British statesman and naval officer, an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and second cousin once removed to Elizabeth II. He was the last Viceroy of India (1947) and the first Governor-General of the independent Dominion of India (1947–48), from which the modern Republic of India emerged in 1950.

Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960) was an English heiress, socialite, relief-worker, wife of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and last Vicereine of India.

Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian Independence Movement under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi and ruled India from its establishment as an independent nation in 1947 until his death in office in 1964.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahatma (Sanskrit: “high-souled,” “venerable”)—applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa—is now used worldwide.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a lawyer, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan’s independence on 14 August 1947, and as Pakistan’s first Governor-General from independence until his death.

Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan (Næʍābzādāh Liāqat Alī Khān‎; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), often simply referred as Liaquat, was one of the leading Founding Fathers of modern Pakistan, statesman, lawyer, and political theorist who became and served as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955.

Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence PC (28 December 1871 – 10 September 1961) was a British Labour politician.

Antonia Mary Roby, Viscountess Radcliffe (1903-1982), Wife of Cyril John, 1st Viscount Radcliffe; daughter of Godfrey Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood.