by ‘He was uncompromising in the right way’
Sean Holmes, director, The Sea (2000), Saved (2011) and The Chair Plays (2012)
When I was directing The Sea at the Minerva, Chichester, I went to visit him at home. The lower half of his house was bleak and tree-covered, with a low, dark ceiling – just what you’d expect from Edward Bond. Then he took me upstairs to a room on the roof and as we went up, there was a peacock on the window. The upstairs was full of light, color and plants and there were peacocks in their garden. That was Edward: he was both.
It was uncompromising in the right way. It came from a place of purity and the search for something tough and concrete. When we did Saved and then The Chair Plays at the Lyric Hammersmith, he was in 80-90% of the rehearsals and the whole organization had the most creative experience. When I heard of his passing, one of the people I texted was Claire Bryan, who is still the stage manager at the Lyric. I immediately thought of her because I know she will never forget the six months we had with Edward. We all raised our game because he expected it. And he expected it because he believed that you can’t have democracy without drama. He believed it was vital and important.
Related: Edward Bond: ‘Our theater is trivialized or generalized – both are forms of sleaze’
There was one evening rehearsal where we did the famous stoning of the children’s scene. He asked if he could guide him. He took everyone through and explained that at the beginning of the scene no one is to stone a child. Nobody even thought about it. There are 60 or 70 events in those 10 pages that lead to the stone.
It was lovely to watch him talk it through with the young team and it stayed with me. I’m doing King Lear in Tokyo at the moment and I keep telling the actors that Cornwall and Regan at the beginning of the play are not to pull anyone’s eyes out. But in the same way, one thing leads to another and suddenly we are in hell.
Edward said: “As far as I know, no youth group has ever bullied a child. It is not a documentary. It is a metaphor. If you oppress the poorest, if you bully the weakest, they will look for those who are weaker than them to bully and oppress.”
As you tighten the production, you always lose time between the first preview and press night but with Saved, we added half an hour. It was like: “No, not long enough silence. They are not painful enough.” And again, he was right.
Before the press night, we were sitting on the stage of the Lyric. I did the “fight them on the beaches” speech you do on press night, then I asked him if he wanted to say anything. He went around everyone and described something they did in the show that he really liked. Everything he said was spot on. He was very honest and generous of him. I looked at them all and thought: “They’re going to break press night. You won’t have to worry because Edward Bond believes in them.” And they put on a great show that night.
‘He liked to be controversial and make the audience think’
Marianne Faithfull, actress, Early Morning (1968)
I was playing Irina in Chekhov’s Three Sisters with Avril Elgar and Glenda Jackson at the Royal Court in 1967. I think Edward knew me through William Gaskill, the artistic director of the Court, who was a great friend of mine. Early Morning was very controversial, but I thought it was great. Edward was excellent. I don’t know why he was famous because he couldn’t find him because I don’t remember him like that. I remember him as a nice writer.
The Lord Chamberlain’s office banned the play and the police visited him the first night. I thought it was stupid and everyone knew it was stupid. The Lord Chamberlain’s office was finished, it was almost over, thank God.
I was playing Florence Nightingale who was in a lesbian relationship with Queen Victoria played by Moira Redmond, but I didn’t really care about the controversy. I think that’s what Edward wanted. He liked to be controversial and make the audience think.
It was a very good time for the Court and for me also to be involved at that time. The atmosphere was exciting and people knew something was happening. It was one of the best times of my life. That was going on and I was involved. I liked it. I don’t know if I felt that Early Morning was part of a movement of a young generation of people changing the world, but I probably was.
‘An artist in the truest sense’
Tanya Moodie, actress, The Chair Plays (2012)
I like spiky and difficult people because I am irrepressibly jolly and I challenge myself to break through whatever walls are up. Edward would come to himself and say something like this: “Oh come on now, why don’t you turn that frown upside down?” I treated him like he was my uncle. I had an incredible affection for him and also respect.
If you care and persevere, wisdom comes with age. He was one of those people. When I found out he had died, I thought: “Oh, I’ve lost Peter Brook and Peter Hall and now Edward.” I have worked with these people who express everything, when you are present, the weight of their whole experience.
As an actor, I loved every single word. The images in his plays create an oppressive environment, but although they were dark, the characters were complex and nuanced. I imagine it’s like being a musician playing in a symphony, which you slide right into. It was so smooth. Nothing felt forced. Nothing felt too cerebral. I never felt drained or taxed energetically. There was something inherently hopeful.
He was very quiet and didn’t always do stellar things. He just did the job. He was an artist in the truest sense.
‘He had a great ear for humour’
Simon Callow, actor, Restoration (1981)
He gathered a group of actors, including me, Irene Handl and Philip Davis, to perform a Restoration at the Royal Court. It’s a bit politically ambiguous, but it’s brilliantly conceived and the writing is excellent. We thought it was a great play, but as a director, we couldn’t satisfy him at all. He believed that there was only one way to make his plays and that he had the key. But unlike Brecht, who was both a notable dramatist and a master of the theatrical arts, Edward did not exist and that was the tension that prevailed throughout his life.
However, I caught a glimpse of another man. I found out that he was beaten on stage under this intensity. He loved the theater but his principles forced him to deny his sensual pleasure.
I think he was an extraordinary playwright. His range was amazing. He was also a great comic writer. I had appeared in his play Narrow Road to the Deep North in Edinburgh years before I met him. It’s really funny. The transition from comedy to tragedy at the end of the play is great. If he wanted to make a career out of sitcom, he had a great ear for comedy.
He was a poet, a highly imaginative writer and someone who was in touch with profound creative juices. I admired him so much and I wish I didn’t find it so impossible.
‘Uncomfortable, eccentric and essential’
Richard McCabe, actor, Bingo (2012)
He was one of our great writers despite the disdain he was often treated in his own country. I first did Bond at drama school. What struck me immediately, and later when I did Bingo at the Young Vic, is how he doesn’t waste a single syllable. He is a very precise writer. Every word is considered and weighed. This makes his plays very close. This is a challenge for audiences who often prefer their theater to be easily accessible and nicely packaged. They require focus and concentration.
It’s about a type of left-wing polemical theater and writer that doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes eccentric, but full of content, thought and essential. Theater will be poorer if it isn’t digging the establishment in the ribs.
