This volume contains the best of David Edgar's work from the 1970s.
The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs
is an adaptation of the famous South African writer's diaries and deals with solitary confinement and loneliness - "a remarkable, persuasive picture." (
Observer
)
Mary Barnes
is based in a commune in the sixties and focuses on schizophrenia "promulgating the theory that schizophrenia can be effectively treated through behaviourist methods alone"
Saigon Rose
tackles venereal disease and is "intriguing and entertaining...Edgar handles his themes - loss of innocence and a sense of betrayal - in a bitty, playful style laced with black comedy" (
Independent
O Fair Jerusalem
deals with the black death.
Destiny
deals with the loss of Empire and the rise of fascism in contemporary Britain - "A play which astonished me with its intelligence, density, sympathy and finely controlled anger." Dennis Potter,
The Sunday Times