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Nick Hern Books

David Edgar

David Edgar is a leading UK playwright, author of many original plays and adaptations. He also pioneered the teaching of playwriting in the UK, founding the Playwriting Studies course at Birmingham University in 1989.

His plays include: A Christmas Carol, adapted from the story by Charles Dickens (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2017); If Only (Minerva Theatre, Chichester, 2013); Written on the Heart (RSC, 2011); a version of Ibsen's The Master Builder (Minerva Theatre, Chichester, 2013); Arthur and George, adapted from the novel by Julian Barnes (Birmingham Rep & Nottingham Playhouse, 2010); Testing the Echo (Out of Joint, 2008); A Time to Keep, written with Stephanie Dale (Dorchester Community Players, 2007); Playing With Fire (National Theatre, 2005); Continental Divide (US, 2003); The Prisoner's Dilemma (RSC, 2001); Albert Speer, based on Gitta Sereny's biography of Hitler's architect (National Theatre, 2000); Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (Birmingham Rep, 1996); Pentecost (RSC, 1994); The Shape of the Table (National Theatre, 1990); Maydays (1983); The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (RSC, 1980); Destiny (1976); and The National Interest (1971).

His work for television includes adaptations of Destiny, screened by the BBC in 1978, The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs, televised by the BBC in 1981, and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, televised by Channel 4 in 1982, as well as the plays Buying a Landslide (1992) and Vote for Them (1989). He is also the author of the radio plays Ecclesiastes (1977), A Movie Starring Me (1991), Talking to Mars (1996) and an adaptation of Eve Brook's novel The Secret Parts (2000). He wrote the screenplay for the film Lady Jane (1986).

He is the author of How Plays Work (Nick Hern Books, 2009; revised 2021) and The Second Time as Farce: Reflections on the Drama of Mean Times (1988), and editor of The State of Play: Playwrights on Playwriting (2000). He was Resident Playwright at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1974-5 (Board Member from 1985), Fellow in Creative Writing at Leeds Polytechnic, Bicentennial Arts Fellow (US) (1978-9) and was Literary Consultant for the RSC (1984-8, Honorary Associate Artist, 1989). He founded the University of Birmingham's MA in Playwriting Studies in 1989 and was its director until 1999. He was appointed Professor of Playwriting Studies in 1995.

Showing 1-12 of 21 items.
Albert Speer

Albert Speer

By David Edgar

A panoramic historical drama about the man whose devotion to Hitler blinded him to the worst crime of the twentieth century, drawing closely on Gita Sereny's definitive and magisterial biography of Albert Speer.

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Arthur & George

Arthur & George (stage version)

By Julian Barnes Adapted by David Edgar

The gripping story of the sensational, real-life case in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found himself playing detective.

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A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (RSC stage version)

By Charles Dickens Adapted by David Edgar

An adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic – one of the best-loved stories ever written – that rediscovers the social conscience of the timeless tale.

Continental Divide: two plays

Continental Divide: two plays

By David Edgar

In this two-play cycle set against the background of a bitterly fought American governor's election, David Edgar explores what has happened to the revolutionary fervour which took hold of both the Right and the Left in the 1960s, and how it has been carried over into the politics of today.

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Daughters of the Revolution

Daughters of the Revolution

By David Edgar

A political thriller set in the midst of a bitterly fought US governor's election, from the Democrat perspective. Part of David Edgar's two-play cycle, Continental Divide.

Published in volume Continental Divide: two plays
    Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

    Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (stage version)

    By Robert Louis Stevenson Adapted by David Edgar

    A superb adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story of the unassuming Dr Jekyll and his dark alter-ego Mr Hyde.

    Edgar: Shorts

    Edgar: Shorts

    By David Edgar

    A collection of shorter plays from stage and television by one of the UK's foremost political playwrights.

    How Plays Work

    How Plays Work

    By David Edgar

    Distinguished playwright David Edgar examines the mechanisms and techniques which dramatists throughout the ages have employed to structure their plays and to express their meaning.

    If Only

    If Only

    By David Edgar

    A gripping, Coalition-set drama from one of the UK's top political playwrights.

    The Master Builder

    The Master Builder

    By Henrik Ibsen Adapted by David Edgar

    An enthralling version of an unforgettable Ibsen classic.

    Maydays

    Maydays (Revised version)

    By David Edgar

    David Edgar's landmark play about the twenty-somethings who came of age in 1968 and were drawn into revolutionary politics. Revised version staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2018.

    Maydays & Trying It On: two plays

    Maydays & Trying It On: two plays

    By David Edgar

    Two plays by David Edgar, written thirty-five years apart, both exploring the theme of youth and revolution.