Post-war theatre
It’s a little bit of an advert for the plays coming up at the Soho and for Michael Billington’s book next year, but it’s still an interesting read as to what inspires this set of writers, who created plays based on the last 6 decades of British history.
Stella Duffy’s thoughts are intriguing about 2000s:
“In 1933, US President Roosevelt said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” The 2000s has been the decade of fear: from the millennium bug to Sars and bird flu, via the axis of evil, Bush’s presidencies (the legitimate and the illegitimate), homegrown and imported terrorisms, global warming, the Aids and developing world poverty crises, and the current state of the Middle East. It seems to me that we’ve been told to be afraid of each other, of the world, more this decade than in any I’ve been alive….
….We are being told to be afraid. It excuses the cameras everywhere, the ID cards on their way, the constant infringement of human rights across the globe. The logical extension of not trusting “them” is to not trust “us” – and when there’s no one to trust, what happens to love?
But I don’t believe it. I don’t believe we are going to hell in a handcart. I don’t believe we can’t make a difference. So I’ve written a political play….”
I find this intriguing as I think amongst my peers there is more and more a sense of “we can’t make a difference” on the Big Political scale – but we can perhaps make a difference on the community scale: think blogs, flickr, myspace, bebo, knitting, crafting…
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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We can make a difference!!!