Throughout all of David Edgar’s work, there runs a red thread of political commitment to democratic socialism. He does not advance it so much as he assumes it: social justice, emancipatory movements, class analysis, critique of capitalism – all of these values and practices underpin his creative writing as well as his non-theatrical works. This list of qualities is, however, carefully chosen – our readers will notice we list class analysis, not class struggle; critique of capitalism, not Marxism-Leninism; emancipatory movements, not revolution; and social justice, not collective ownership of the means of production. In short, we are looking at a fairly capacious definition of socialism that can be attributed to Edgar throughout his career, to cover a powerful continuity of outlook. Of course, at various moments along the way the particular political vision he has held and the particular allegiances or practices that seemed efficacious were more radical, perhaps, but as his politics has evolved, these values fundamentally remain.