Bond attacks Royal Court

Playwright Edward Bond has launched a blistering attack on modern theatre in general and the Royal Court in particular, reports Alistair Smith in The Stage.

Speaking at the ceremony for Arts Council England’s John Whiting Award, Bond dismissed modern theatre, claiming that “it only pretends to take risks” and “does not deal with the problems it should be dealing with”. He also rejected television and film as “soft fascism”, adding that “it does not really deal with the problems of society”.

However, he saved his final attack for the Royal Court, the venue which staged his break-through play Saved in 1965, saying: “When I began to write, the Royal Court was an oasis in a desert. It is now a graveyard in a desert.”