The Power of Yes: A Dramatist Seeks to Understand the Financial Crisis

Description

On 15 September 2008, capitalism came to a grinding halt. As sub-prime mortgages and toxic securities continued to dominate the headlines well into 2009, the National Theatre asked David Hare to write an urgent and immediate work to be staged in Autumn 2009 that sought to find out what had happened, and why. Capitalism works when greed and fear are in the correct balance. This time they got out of balance. Too much greed, not enough fear. Meeting with many of the key players from the financial world, David Hare, author of The Permanent Way and Stuff Happens, has created The Power of Yes: a compelling narrative, as enlightening as it is entertaining. It's like a ship which you're being told is in apple-pie order, the decks are cleaned, the metal is burnished, the only thing nobody mentions, it's being driven at full speed towards an iceberg.

David Hare is one of Britain's most internationally performed playwrights. He was born in Sussex in 1947. Thirteen of his plays have been presented at the National Theatre. 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.