A selection of visceral full-cast plays from the incendiary British playwright – plus bonus interview

Edward Bond was one of the most influential and important British dramatists of the 20th century, well-known for his controversial plays exploring societal discord and the darker impulses of human nature. His most famous drama, Saved – banned due to its scenes of violence and abuse – was instrumental in the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK, and went on to make Bond’s name on the world stage.

Of his 50 plays, many have become radical classics, including the first drama in our collection, Bingo. Adapted for the BBC World Service, it stars Stephen Murray as William Shakespeare, now a retired, wealthy landowner tormented by his conscience and his failure to protect the vulnerable from the world’s cruelty. Other cast includes Julie Walters. Also inspired by Shakespeare, Lear – a hard-hitting contemporary rewriting of King Lear – sees the autocratic monarch building a wall to keep out ‘enemies’, only for his own daughters to rebel against him. Brewster Mason stars in this politically charged examination of power, corruption and the cycle of authoritarianism.

Set in a remote Suffolk village in 1907, The Sea, starring David Tennant, Anton Lesser and Rosemary Leach, revolves around a strange drowning off England’s east coast, which unleashes a storm of events that will change the lives of the local villagers. In Early Morning, the last play to be proscribed by the Lord Chamberlain before the abolition of his office in 1968, Queen Victoria seduces Florence Nightingale, the heirs to the throne are conjoined twins, and heaven is a realm governed by cannibalism. Adapted for radio by the author himself, this blackly surreal play stars Julian Rhind-Tutt, Paterson Joseph, Margaret Courtenay and Lucy Tregear.

The winner of the 1968 John Whiting Award, Narrow Road to the Deep North centres on Basho, a Japanese poet, who witnesses the triumph and becomes involved in the downfall of the dictator Shogo. Starring Michael Aldridge and John Rowe, this Radio 3 production is a satirical, savage indictment of empire and war. In Summer, two women are forced to reconsider the life they once shared. Anna Massey and Yvonne Bryceland star as Xenia and Marthe, whose meeting in a clifftop house in Yugoslavia leads to a confrontation with the past. Also included are three short stories specially written for BBC Radio – ‘Water’, ‘The Rotten Apple Tree’ and ‘Service’ – read by David Ryall, as well as an episode of The John Tusa Interviews featuring Edward Bond talking about his remarkable creative career.

Production credits
Written by Edward Bond

Bingo

Lear

The Sea

Early Morning

Narrow Road to the Deep North

Summer

Short Stories

Water

The Rotten Apple Tree

Service

Extra Content
The John Tusa Interviews
Presented by John Tusa
With Edward Bond

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