The play Maydays, written by David Edgar, explores how political views tend to drift from left to right as people age. It focuses on three main characters: Jeremy Crowther, originally a zealous communist who moves right after disillusioning events in Hungary and 1968; Martin Glass, whose left-wing activism leads to a "political epiphany" and shift right; and Pavel Lermontov, a dissident who finds his political hero in the West. Throughout the play, Edgar alludes to history repeating itself and how each generation experiences its own disillusioning events that change political perspectives over time.

1. Maydays David Edgar

2. About the Author Born on 26th February, 1948 in Birmingham. Born into a theatrical family. Wrote his first play at the age of five. Read Drama at Manchester University with the aim of becoming a playwright. Began writing full time in 1972. Has written more than sixty plays performed around the world. Known as being a ‘political dramatist.’

3. Edgar’s Earlier Works Two Kinds of Angles – Set in a flat where the two main characters’ lives are inter cut, where a series of flashbacks show their alter egos. Both women are re-enacting the lives of famous empowering women Rosa Luxemburg and Marilyn Monroe. A Truer Shade of Blue – A one act play that sees two business men visit Soho and enter a strip club. But an encounter with a stripper changes the path of the play, as this then makes the men think twice about such entertainment. Oblomov – The re-working of Ivan Goncharov’s novel. Where a man can’t make any important decisions and can’t make any actions. He remains in his bedroom for the majority of the play. Acid – A copycat play about the Charles Manson murders and the Manson Family. The setting is changed from Ohio, America to the Isle of White after a festival.

4. Original Production of Maydays Maydays was written with the intention of being performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was published in 1983. The play was performed on the 13th of October, 1983 by the RSC. Performed at the Barbican Theatre in London.

5. Maydays in Relation to Edgar’s Life Edgar was radicalized during the sixties, gaining left wing views, despite his middle-class upbringing. This is similar to the character of Martin Glass, who starts the play with very Socialist views, though he spent his childhood living an upper-middle class life. Edgar was the editor of his college newspaper. During this time there was a revolutionary atmosphere around the campus and amongst the youth of the community in general. It here that Edgar gained his left-wing views. Edgar’s plays explore politics from many angles. While Maydays explores left-wing extremism, Destiny, another one of Edgar’s plays, explores right-wing extremism. Edgar drew from his own experiences of the left-wing in the sixties, to create a believable situation in which is own generation would move to the right.

6. Key Themes and Ideas The political left and its various forms. Marxism Trotskyism Bolsheviks Libertarianism Socialism Idealism of the left Constant change in political beliefs Radicalness as a fashion rather than for a purpose. Political interdependence on surroundings.

7. Political Context Marxism – The belief that the state has exploited the masses by means of a dominant class, and that one day capitalist societies will be beaten by classless societies. Trotskyism/Leninism –Forms of Communism advocated by Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin, respectively, calling for a complete revolution by the proletariat (working class). Socialism – Advocates for the investment of ownership and control of means of production, land, etc. to the community. (According to Marxism) the transitional phase of a government between capitalism and communism. Libertarianism – Advocates for entire free will. Minimal (if any) government interference in any form of life, social, economic or otherwise. Bolsheviks – Members of the Communist Party in Russia. Imperialism – Where a nation extends its authority to other nations and foreign lands.

8. The key theme in Maydays is the tendency of people’s political values to drift more to the right as they age. Jeremy Crowther, originally a zealous member of the left-wing and the Youth Communist League, challenges his Left-Wing ideals during the Hungarian Revolution. He then swings to the Right during student protests in 1968 Act I Scene iii “Well, it was really very simple. They sent this apparatchik up to explain the line. Those brave, wild revolutionaries in the streets of Budapest, ‘objectively’ the agents of imperialism. And I thought then – oh come on, do you really want this man to run the country? And I left. And it was –just like that.” Act II Scene iii “The hyphen linking ‘socialist’ and ‘democratic’ stretched and stretched, and eventually snapped.” Unable to accept that the claims of the party should take precedent over the individual, Martin Glass’s Left-Wing activism eventually leads to a “political epiphany” in which he realises he is completely wrong and becomes a Right-Wing journalist. Act II Scene v “I’ve spent four years of patient toil, trying to make the SV the Government. And I looked at him, as he put the knife in me, with all the tact and understated charm of Jack the Ripper, and thought: come on, do you really want this man to run the country?” Act II Scene vii “As once again the proofs pile up that we are catastrophically wrong. We change the question. I just no longer can believe that a third of the world is living in an aberration. To say that every generation has its Kronstadt, well, today is mine. I feel a great deal better. After being arrested for trying to assemble a petition in Russia, Pavel Lermontov moves to the West and is legislated by the Right to discredit Socialism. Act III scene iii “They say that we, we ‘dissidents’, see the West as our hero. Well. I think I have found mine.” Act III Scene vi “I would merely remark in passing, to those who would be rather red than dead, that there are many graves where I have recently come from, which confirm that they may not have the option.”

9. Historical Context March 1921: Kronstadt Rebellion, one of many left-wing rebellions against the Bolsheviks in Russia. 1st of May, 1945: The day after the death of Hitler. Nazi-Germany rule is over and surrender is imminent. World War II (“The Anti-Fascist War”) is over. 5th of November, 1956: The Middle of the Hungarian Revolution against Stalinist rule in Hungary. Thousands of Hungarians revolted against Soviet Principles, which were ruling the People’s Republic of Hungary. They also called for the complete evacuation of all Soviet troops. 1967: Vietnam War, a war between a capitalist South Vietnam, and a communist North. Included the Viet Cong, a group of communists in South Vietnam that fought a “guerrilla war” while the North fought in a more conventional manner. Throughout the entire play, Edgar alludes to the fact that History constantly repeats itself. Phil, Act I Scene vi: “The CP, 1937. The SV, 1968. In my view, anyway. Same glint. Same steely eye. Same cast of mind.” Teddy Weiner, Act I Scene ix, describes how as the world comes crashing down for adults, children are told they can change it. But this vicious cycle continues. Lermontov, Act II Scene ii page 69

10. Edgar’s Style of Writing Edgar had an obsession with political disillusionment He wrote his plays in very short scenes to keep the readers engaged. Wrote this play in a very vast epoch, alluding to the inevitability of the repetition of history. The play focuses on three main characters instead of one, showing the universal character of politics.

11. Our Questions to You As a young person, do you feel that at the current time your political views are more left or right wing? Do you feel that as you’ve grown up your political views have changed in any way? What, in your opinion, are some of the strong and weak points of current British politics? Which modern-day government do you believe is the most successful and beneficial form of government?

12. Any Questions?