Described by its author as 'almost irresponsibly optimistic' Saved is a play set in London in the sixties. Its subject is the cultural poverty & frustration of a generation of young people on the dole & living on council estates. The play was first staged privately in November 1965 at the Royal Court Theatre before members of the English Stage Society in a time when plays were still censored. With its scenes of violence including the stoning of a baby Saved became a notorious play & a cause celebre. In a letter to the Observer Sir Laurence Olivier wrote: ' Saved is not a play for children but it is for grown-ups & the grown-ups of this country should have the courage to look at it.' Saved has had a marked influence on a whole new generation writing in the 1990s. Edward Bond is a great playwright
- many particularly in continental Europe would say the greatest living English playwright" (Independent)"