Ian Mcdiarmid. Ezra production shot
Ezra is about the anti-Semitism and treachery of the great poet Ezra Pound, and his subsequent incarceration and remorse.
“The play asks questions about the paradox of Ezra Pound. How is it possible that one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century could also indulge in the obscenity of racial hatred? How is it possible that the Orphic dreamer could also support fascism?”
“We tend to kick our monster upstairs; to pretend he doesn’t belong to us; in this way he is pigeonholed and explained away; we also get trapped into coming up with easy answers; we also indulge in stereotypes; Ezra Pound, the complex flawed genius is our monster, our Caliban.”
Bernard Kops
There was an arson attack on Half Moon Theatre during the run of Ezra which destroyed some of the theatre’s archive.
You can access the script of this play via the British Library’s MPS Modern Playscripts Collection.
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