Big Brum TIE and Edward Bond

Beginning with ‘At the Inland Sea’ in 1995, Big Brum embarked on a long partnership with the playwright Edward Bond. Over this time, Edward wrote ten new plays for Big Brum to perform for young people. This unique collaboration continues to lie at the heart of all Big Brum’s work.

On Edward’s death in 2024, theatre critic Michael Billington described him as “One of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century, [who] confronted audiences with ‘the crisis in the human species’.” Lyn Gardner called him “the greatest of any of the postwar dramatists.”

Big Brum’s Artistic Director Richard Holmes wrote a powerful tribute to Edward in ‘Drama’ magazine.

Bondian theatre and drama is central to the evolution of Big Brum’s practice. In 2027, the Company will embark on a new tour of ‘The Broken Bowl’, one of the plays that Edward wrote for Big Brum. 

Edward Bond’s Big Brum plays

Further reading

Edward Bond’s website: https://edwardbonddrama.org/new-entry

Edward Bond and the Dramatic Child. David Davis (Ed.) Trentham Books, 2005.

Further images from the tours of Edward Bond’s Big Brum plays can be found on Big Brum’s YouTube channel and Flickr feed.

Over the next few months, we will be adding further content to this page.