BROKEN BOND
Anyone whose debut play was titled The Pope’s Wedding was destined to be a controversy magnet, and Edward Bond more than delivered. His masterpiece, Saved, covered the struggles of alienated urban youth and its violence (including the stoning of a baby in a tram) and became a ire magnet of Lord Chamberlain’s censors. British censors be damned, it became internationally popular and a cause célèbre for freedom of expression in British theatre. Indeed Bond was not shaken or stirred by the controversy, and rather than retreat he responded with a play where Queen Victora and Florence Nightingale were lesbian lovers. His standoff with the censors culminated with the abolition of theatre censorship in 1968. He was 89 and picked by A Submarine Torpedoes and Sinks The Love Boat.
Edward Bond
18 July 1934 – 3 March 2024, aged 89
💀💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 10 POINTS