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David Edgar

Sue Lawley's castaway is playwright David Edgar.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is a playwright whose work has chronicled Britain's changing political landscape over the past 30 years. David Edgar was brought up in a leafy suburb of Birmingham, but was radicalised during the 1960s and has never looked back. In 1976, he examined the right-wing National Front movement in Destiny, a play for the RSC. It was his first award-winning play and the work of which to date he is the most proud.

His interest in theatre goes back to his childhood; his parents both had theatrical connections and his father even turned a garden shed into an elaborate theatre. It was here that as a boy he was to star in plays in which he cast himself in the leading role. Despite the shift of politics to the centre ground, he remains committed to the left-wing cause and to exploring the difference between utopia and reality. He also writes for TV and radio, and his plays are regularly performed on the international as well as the British stage.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Cum Sancto Spiritu - With the Holy Ghost by Johann Sebastian Bach
Book: An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan
Luxury: A piano

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 4 Aug 2006 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Michael Rosen

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Music Played

  • Original cast, the Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

    The Journey to Portsmouth

    • The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.
    • That's Entertainment.

  • The Beatles

    Strawberry Fields Forever

    • Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane.
    • Parlophone.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Johann Sebastian Bach

      Mass in B Minor - Cum sancto spiritu

      Choir: Leipzig Radio Chorus Orchestra: The Staatskapelle Orchestra, Dresden Conductor: Gert Frishmuth

      • Bach: Mass in B Minor.
      • Philips.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr.

    I Have A Dream (speech August 28 1963)

    • Great Speeches of the 20th Century.
    • Rhino.

  • Steeleye Span

    The Gower Wassail

    • The King: The best of Steeleye Span.
    • Mooncrest.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No.10 in E minor - 2nd movement

    Orchestra: Gurzenich Orchestra of Cologne Conductor: Dmitri Kitajenko

    • Shostakovich: Symphony No.10.
    • Capriccio.

  • Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim

    Gee, Officer Krupke (from West Side Story)

    • Original cast recording of West Side Story.
    • CBS.

  • Sophie Solomon

    Poison Sweet Madeira

    • Poison Sweet Madeira.
    • Decca.

  • Book Choice

    • An Evil Cradling - Brian Keenan

  • Luxury Choice

    • A piano

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest David Edgar

Broadcasts

  • Sun 30 Jul 2006 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 4 Aug 2006 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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