In this excerpt, Bulman discusses how Bond related the themes of Shakespeare's King Lear to his belief that playwrights "must be morally responsible to their societies," the result being his own version of the classic play.

Edward Bond thinks that playwrights must be morally responsible to their societies. Their plays ought not only to analyze history-how societies became what they are-but also to suggest ways in which societies can better themselves. Too often, he believes, theater is immoral. It encourages playwrights who have no political awareness; it fosters uncritical attitudes toward plays that have become classics. Such plays, he argues, may have been moral enough ill their days. But they have outlived their historical moments and entered the realm of myth; and because myth codifies and perpetuates the values of the old order, It is dangerous. Bond wants his audiences to "escape from a mythology of the...