Selections from the Notebooks Of Edward Bond Volume 2 1980-1995

This second volume of Edward Bond's notebooks covers the period from Restoration, his historic drama with songs, to Eleven Vests, his play for young people written for Big Brum Theatre-in-Education"There is a clicheacute; - which is also false - that all creative writing is autobiographical. If I were to be asked when you write do you write about your life I would answer when I write I am living my life."Including first drafts of plays, ideas and thoughts on characters, themes, actions and dramatic technique, this selection of notes provides a glimpse into the working mind of one of the world's most provocative playwrights. Alongside the commentaries on the plays, Bond's notes also contain stories and poems. His philosophy on theatre and art and his views on the role of the writer in society are included. Emphasis is given to Bond's critical response to political and moral issues such as Thatcherism, the monarchy, nuclear war, Britain's social classes and our definitions of good and evil.

Edward Bond was born and educated in London. His plays include The Pope's Wedding (Royal Court Theatre, 1962), Saved (Royal Court, 1965), Early Morning (Royal Court, 1968), Lear (Royal Court, 1971), The Sea (Royal Court, 1973), The Fool (Royal Court, 1975), The Woman (National Theatre, 1978), Restoration (Royal Court, 1981), Summer (National Theatre, 1982), The War Plays (RSC at the Barbican Pit, 1985), In the Company of Men (Paris, 1992; RSC at the Barbican Pit, 1996), At the Inland Sea (toured by Big Brum Theatre-in-Education, 1995), Coffee (Rational Theatre Company, Cardiff and London, 1996; Paris, 2000), Eleven Vests (toured by Big Brum Theatre-in-Education, 1997), The Crime of the Twenty-first Century (published, 1998 and produced in Paris, 2000) and The Children (Classworks, Cambridge, 2000); also Olly's Prison (BBC2 Television, 1993), Tuesday (BBC Schools TV, 1993) and Chair (BBC Radio 4, 2000). His Theatre Poems and Songs were published in 1978 and Poems 1978-1985 in 1987 Dr Ian Stuart, currently teaches in the School of Theatre, University of Southern California