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: Here in America (Orange Tree Theatre, 2024); Trying It On (UK tour, 2018); 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.
Here in America
A compelling new drama that imagines a confrontation between two giants of stage and screen, Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller. Premiering at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in September 2024.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Pre-orderEbook£10.99£8.79Available soonHow Plays Work
By David EdgarDistinguished playwright David Edgar examines the mechanisms and techniques which dramatists throughout the ages have employed to structure their plays and to express their meaning.
- Paperback
£14.99£11.99Add to basketEbook£14.99£11.99Trying It On
By David EdgarAn autobiographical monologue, written to be performed by its author David Edgar, in which Edgar at seventy confronts the ideals of his twenty-something self.
- Ebook
£8.99£7.19
Maydays (Revised version)
By David EdgarDavid 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.
- Ebook
£8.99£7.19
Maydays & Trying It On: two plays
By David EdgarTwo plays by David Edgar, written thirty-five years apart, both exploring the theme of youth and revolution.
- Paperback
£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£16.99£13.59A Christmas Carol (RSC stage version)
By Charles Dickens Adapted by David EdgarAn adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic – one of the best-loved stories ever written – that rediscovers the social conscience of the timeless tale.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79If Only
By David EdgarA gripping, Coalition-set drama from one of the UK's top political playwrights.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Written on the Heart
By David EdgarAn enthralling historical drama about the creation of the King James Bible, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to mark its four-hundredth anniversary.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
The Master Builder
By Henrik Ibsen Adapted by David EdgarAn enthralling version of an unforgettable Ibsen classic.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79
Arthur & George (stage version)
By Julian Barnes Adapted by David EdgarThe gripping story of the sensational, real-life case in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found himself playing detective.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£8.99£7.19Testing the Echo
By David EdgarA timely, provocative and witty look at the campaign to redefine Britishness for a multicultural society.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
A Time to Keep
By Stephanie Dale and David EdgarA large-scale historical romp in the terrain between Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
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