In this interview, which took place in Birmingham on 16 February 2023, Hakan Gültekin talks to playwright David Edgar about his theatre universe and the current state of British theatre. Edgar has long championed the social and economic rights of playwrights, and here suggests that the lack of long-term and sustained support from British theatres has created what he calls ‘Primark playwrights’. His plays are characterized by a careful examination of historical events and the impact of these events on society, as evident in his epic two-part play Destiny (1976), which examines the roots of the British Labour movement. Other notable plays include Excuses Excuses (1972), Saigon Rose (1976), Wreckers (1977), and Entertaining Strangers (1986), commissioned by the Colway Theatre. He has also written plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs (1978), Maydays (1983, revived in 2018), and Pentecost (1994). More recently, he adapted A Christmas Carol for the RSC (2017) and staged the one-man show Trying It On (2018). He founded the first playwriting degree in Britain at the University of Birmingham in 1989, and served as President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain from 2007 to 2013.

中文翻译：

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英国剧院：从 Agitprop 到 “Primark Playwriting”


在 2023 年 2 月 16 日在伯明翰进行的这次采访中，哈坎·居尔特金与剧作家大卫·埃德加谈论了他的戏剧世界和英国戏剧的现状。埃德加长期以来一直倡导剧作家的社会和经济权利，在这里，他指出，缺乏英国剧院的长期和持续支持，造就了他所说的“Primark 剧作家”。他的戏剧特点是对历史事件及其事件对社会的影响进行仔细的审视，这在他的史诗般的两部曲戏剧《命运》（1976 年）中得到了体现，该剧探讨了英国工人运动的根源。其他著名的戏剧包括科尔威剧院委托的《借口借口》（1972 年）、《西贡玫瑰》（1976 年）、《破坏者》（1977 年）和《娱乐陌生人》（1986 年）。他还为皇家莎士比亚剧团创作了剧本，包括《阿尔比·萨克斯的监狱日记》（1978 年）、《五月天》（1983 年，2018 年恢复）和《五旬节》（1994 年）。最近，他为 RSC 改编了《圣诞颂歌》（2017 年），并上演了独角戏《试穿》（2018 年）。他于 1989 年在伯明翰大学创立了英国第一个剧本创作学位，并于 2007 年至 2013 年担任英国作家协会主席。