E. A. Whitehead's first play, The Foursome, had its premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in 1971, and subsequently transferred to the West End, winning the George Devine Award and Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright. Ostensibly a play about the battle of the sexes, it is actually an exploration of the assumptions that make such battles inevitable. Whitehead continued his exploration of sexual conflict in his next two plays, Alpha-Beta and The Sea Anchor. The plays were widely produced and won Whitehead an international reputation. The Punishment, shown live on BBC2 in 1972, is a one-act play about authority and corruption.