MACMILLAN MODERN DRAMATISTS Macmillan Modern Dramatists Series Editors: Bruce King and Adele King Published titles Reed Anderson, Federico Garcia Lorca Eugene Benson, J. M. Synge Renate Benson, German Expressionist Drama Normand Berlin, Eugene O'Neill Michael Billington, Alan Ayckbourn John Bull, New British Political Dramatists Denis Calandra, New German Dramatists Neil Carson, Arthur Miller Maurice Charney, Joe Orton Ruby Cohn, New American Dramatists, 1960-1980 Bernard F Dukore, American Dramatists, 1918-1945 Bernard F Dukore, Harold Pinter Arthur Ganz, George Bernard Shaw Frances Gray, John Arden Julian Hilton, Georg Buchner David L Hirst, Edward Bond Helene Keyssar, Feminist Theatre Bettina L Knapp, French Theatre 1918-1939 Charles Lyons, Samuel Beckett Susan Bassnett-McGuire, Luigi Pirandello Margery Morgan, August Strindberg Leonard C. Pronko, Eugene Labiche and Georges Feydeau Jeanette L Savona, Jean Genet Claude Schumacher, Alfred Jarry and Guillaume Apollinaire Laurence Senelick, Anton Chekhov Theodore Shank, American Alternative Theatre James Simmons, Sean O'Casey David Thomas, Henrik Ibsen Dennis Walder, Athol Fugard Thomas Whitaker, Tom Stoppard Nick Worrall, Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Turgenev Katharine Worth, Oscar Wilde Further titles in preparation MACMILLAN MODERN DRAMATISTS EDWARD BOND David L. Hirst Lecturer in Drama, University of Birmingham M MACMILLAN © David L. Hirst 1985 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in acordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1985 Published by Higher and Further Education Division MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset by Type Generation Ltd, London EC1 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Hirst, David L. 1942- Edward Bond. - (Macmillan modern dramatists) 1. Bond, Edward - Criticism and interpretation I. Title 822'.94 PR6052.05Z/ ISBN 978-0-333-32032-7 ISBN 978-1-349-17983-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-17983-1 Contents List of Plates VI Editors Preface vii Acknowledgements viii 1 Points of Departure 1 We Come to the River 9 The White Devil 19 2 Theatres, Actors and Audiences 24 3 Diabolonian Ethics: Techniques of Subversion 48 Saved 48 The Woman 59 Restoration 68 Summer 79 4 Tragedy and Comedy 87 Saved 90 The Three Sisters 91 Early Morning 94 The Sea 115 5 Epic Theatre: Dramatising the Analysis 123 Lear 132 The Bundle 141 The Worlds 151 Chronology of Works 166 Select Bibloigraphy 169 ~u ill v List of Plates 1. Dennis Waterman in Saved at the Royal Court Theatre, 1965. Copyright: Snowdon. 2. The final tableau of Saved, in the 1969 revival, Royal Court Theatre, with Kenneth Cranham as Len. Copy right: Donald Cooper. 3. Narrow Road to the Deep North, Royal Court Theatre, 1969. Copyright: Douglas H. Jeffrey. 4. Early Morning, 1969, Royal Court Theatre, Shirley Ann Field as Florence and Moira Redmond as Queen Victoria. Copyright: Zoe Dominic. 5. Lear, Royal Court Theatre, 1971. Harry Andrews as Lear. Copyright: John Haynes. 6. The Sea, Royal Court Theatre, 1973. Coral Browne as Mrs Rafi. Copyright: John Haynes. 7. Bingo, Royal Court Theatre, 1974. John Gielgud as Shakespeare, Arthur Lowe as Ben Jonson. Copyright: Douglas H. Jeffrey. 8. We Come to the River, The Royal Opera House, 1978. Copyright: Donald Cooper. 9. The Woman, The National Theatre, 1978. Yvonne Bryceland as Hecuba, Dinah Stabb as Cassandra, Nicky Henson as Heros. Copyright: Chris Davies. to. The Worlds, Royal Court Theatre, 1979. Performed by the Royal Court Young People's Theatre Scheme. 11. Simon Callow as Lord Are in Restoration, 1981. Royal Court Theatre. Copyright: John Haynes. vi Editors' Preface The Macmillan Modern Dramatists is an international series of introductions to major and significant nineteenth and twentieth century dramatists, movements and new forms of drama in Europe, Great Britain, America and new nations such as Nigeria and Trinidad. Besides new studies of great and influential dramatists of the past, the series includes volumes on contemporary authors, recent trends in the theatre and on many dramatists, such as writers of farce, who have created theatre 'classics' while being neglected by literary criticism. The volumes in the series devoted to individual dramatists include a biography, a survey of the plays, and detailed analysis of the most significant plays, along with discussion, where relevant, of the political, social, historical and theatrical context. The authors of the volumes, who are involved with theatre as playwrights, directors, actors, teachers, and critics, are concerned with the plays as theatre and discuss such matters as performance, character interpretation and stag ing, along with themes and contexts. BRUCE KING ADELE KING vii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Edward Bond and Elizabeth Bond for their generous help and advice and Nick Philippou who co-directed Early Morning with me and himself directed the premiere of The Tin Can People. I am grateful to John C. Lindley and David M. Wynn whose kindness and hospitality facilitated the writing of the book. The author and publishers are grateful to Associated Book Publishers for permission to quote extracts from the works of Edward Bond. viii 1 Points of Departure On Music Music cannot ask questions It can startle That is as good as a question Music cannot give answers It can persuade That is as good as the truth Music is very dangerous (We are afraid to believe anything Scepticism is polite Conviction leads to argument Truth loses something if told) At Auschwitz they hanged men to waltzes In Chile they broke a musician's hands With the same irony the church Once took away heretics' tongues So there must be a new music A music you can't hang men to A music that stops you breaking musicians' hands 'On Music' (Theatre Poems and Songs p. 78) 1