David Hare

David Hare is one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed contemporary playwrights. This study is concerned with the dramatic method that drives the complex moral and political narratives of his work. Taking as its starting point the thematic and formal shifts that took place with the trilogy, Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War, first staged between 1990 and 1993, it considers the relationship of Hare's writing with its staging and the moment of performance, as well as examining the vital role played by his collaborations with directors, designers and performers. Hare's writing for the theatre since 1970 is placed alongside his work for television and film, his achievements as director and translator, and his journalism and other public writing, to provide a detailed insight into key areas of dramatic style and structure and the unique interplay of poetic intimacy and epic form, subjective experience and public debate.