South Downs and Mere Fact, Mere Fiction

Description

1962: A public school on the South Downs. John Blakemore is a solitary boy who finds it impossible either to understand or adapt to the ways of the school. His adolescent earnestness put off teacher and pupil alike. And now suddenly he seems to be in danger of losing his only friend. David Hare's emotional new play, is a meditation on faith, learning and teenage friendship, played against the backdrop of a Britain still fighting to maintain an established rule. Collected with South Downs is the text of Hare's lecture Mere Fact, Mere Fiction, delivered to the Royal Society of Literature in 2010. In a famous defence of documentary theatre, the author celebrates the power of metaphor to transform factual quite as much as fictional material.

David Hare was born in Sussex in 1947. Thirteen of his plays have been presented at the National Theatre, including a trilogy about the Church, the Law and the Labour Party - Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War - which was presented in repertory in the Olivier Theatre in 1993. His most recent play, The Vertical Hour, was staged at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2008. Ten of his best-known plays, including Plenty, The Secret Rapture, Skylight, The Blue Room, Amy's View, The Judas Kiss, Via Dolorosa - in which he performed - and The Vertical Hour have also been presented on Broadway.