Hot Irons - Diaries, Essays and Journalism

From his work in the 1960s with Portable Theatre and the Royal Court, to his plays for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Brenton has confronted the pressing political issues of times and created a controversial theatre

This volume of essays and diaries, however, reveals a much more complex, humane and thoughtful person than the headlines and snap judgments would allow

The first part of the book offers a selection of occasional articles from the late 1980s

Topics include the resignation of Margaret Thatcher and the legacy of Bertolt Brecht, the 'unbearable heaviness' of being English and thoughts on the avant-garde in Paris and Amsterdam, amongst much else

The second part consists of four diaries, all previously unpublished

They centre on research trips to Far North Queensland and to Moscow and the Ukraine, on rehearsals for Berlin Bertie, and on a country-wide tour of solo readings of The Romans in Britain which he undertook himself to raise funds to fight its prosecution

All very different, the diaries are a revelation both of the man and the worlds he describes

The writing is frequently very funny, often finely angry, almost always overflowing with energy and passion

The stance is questioning, ironic, deeply non-conformist

The book as a whole is stimulating from start to finish

It will blow many a smouldering ember back into a flame ...

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