In 1968, playwright David Edgar was 20 years old. It was also the year of some of the most important and formative events in modern history, including the Paris student revolt, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech, and the ongoing war in Vietnam. Trying It On is a new play written and performed by David Edgar, which reflects on the legacy of this momentous year, drawing on first-person interviews with some of the leading political figures of the time, as well as contemporary activists. The performance also marks David’s first professional stage performance in this contemplative one-man play.
Noted for his political dramas, which have been staged at the National Theatre and at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the events of 1968 helped define David Edgar’s politics and give focus to his writing. In Trying It On, the 70-year-old David is confronted by his 20-year-old self, asking whether they share the same beliefs, and if not, what has changed.
The text has been developed through interviews conducted by the playwright with activists past and present. The production will be directed by Christopher Haydon and produced by independent studio China Plate as part of their new partnership with Warwick Arts Centre. The production will debut in the Midlands, where David was born and has lived for most of his adult life and includes dates at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where David’s parents, both actors, met for the first time in 1938.
Speaking about the project, David Edgar said “I was lucky enough to have been 20 in 1968, and it’s been exciting – but also painful – to look back on those times and the subsequent decades and ask questions of myself and my generation. Speaking to people who shared my biography, I’ve discovered things about my life and times I never knew. I’ve tended not to write autobiographically, and the last time I performed on a stage was in the early 1970s. So this project will tick off two items on my bucket list at once. It’s been great to work with a brilliantly creative team to make the show.”
