Censor battling playwright Edward Bond dies at 89 — Agent

LONDON: English playwright and theatre director Edward Bond, who took on censors with his controversial plays in the 1960s, has died at the age of 89, his agent said Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, Edward Bond passed away on Sunday at the age of 89,” the Casarotto Ramsay and Associates agency said in a statement.

Born in London in 1934, Bond was the author of more than 50 plays, film scripts, and opera librettos, with some of his best known works including “The Sea” (1973) and “The Company of Men” (1990).

As a child during World War II, he was present during the bombings on London in the early 1940s – a terror that would later emerge in the themes of his work.

Bond left school at 15 to work in a factory but was introduced to the dramatic arts after watching a performance of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”.

In 1965 one of his earliest plays, “Saved” was banned by The Lord Chamberlain’s Office, which vetted theatre productions, after it depicted the stoning of a baby in a pram.

Bond refused to alter a word, claiming that removing the scene would alter the meaning of the play, which delves into the lives of a selection of south London working class youths.

Publicity surrounding the case, however, raised questions about the role of the Lord Chamberlain in theatre.

Its role as official censor – in place for more than 200 years – was abolished under the Theatres Act 1968.

Bond caused a scandal again in 1967 when his play “Early Morning” portrayed a lesbian relationship between Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale.

The play was banned but this was overturned in 1969.

Bond was held in high regard in France, where he directed a number of productions, including at the Comedie-Francaise in Paris. — AFP